Marcus Ward Lyon, Jr. (1875–1942) was an American mammalogist, bacteriologist, and pathologist. Born into a military family, he demonstrated an early interest in zoology by collecting local wildlife around his father's army posts. He graduated from Brown University in 1897, and continued his studies at George Washington University while working part-time at the United States National Museum. He received his Ph.D. in 1913. Lyon published many papers on mammalogy, formally describing six species, three genera, and one family. In 1919, he and his wife Martha moved to South Bend, Indiana, to join a newly opened clinic. He began to publish medical studies too, but continued his work in mammalogy, with a particular focus on the local fauna of Indiana. He published more than 160 papers during his career. Lyon acquired the rank of major in the Medical Reserve Corps during World War I, and was appointed president of the American Society of Mammalogists from 1931 to 1932. He was a member of Sigma Xi, the Society of American Bacteriologists, the Indiana Academy of Science, and the Biological Society of Washington. Lyon became a conservationist later in life.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcus_Ward_Lyon,_Jr.

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1783:

The first of five strong earthquakes hit the region of Calabria on the Italian Peninsula killing more than 32,000 people over a period of nearly two months. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1783_Calabrian_earthquakes

1869:

Prospectors in Moliagul, Victoria, Australia, discovered the largest alluvial gold nugget ever found, known as the "Welcome Stranger" (pictured). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welcome_Stranger

1958:

A Mark 15 nuclear bomb disappeared off the shores of Tybee Island, Georgia, after it was jettisoned during a practice exercise when the bomber carrying it collided in midair with a fighter plane. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1958_Tybee_Island_mid-air_collision

1994:

The Army of Republika Srpska carried out the first of two bombardments against civilians in the marketplace in Sarajevo, which were the stated reason for NATO air strikes against Bosnian Serb forces. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Markale_massacres

2008:

Eighty-seven tornadoes occurred over the course of the Super Tuesday tornado outbreak across multiple U.S. states, causing 56 deaths and over $1 billion in damage. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Super_Tuesday_tornado_outbreak

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

comestible: Suitable to be eaten; edible. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/comestible

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

I think that one of our most important tasks is to convince others that there's nothing to fear in difference; that difference, in fact, is one of the healthiest and most invigorating of human characteristics without which life would become meaningless. Here lies the power of the liberal way: not in making the whole world Unitarian, but in helping ourselves and others to see some of the possibilities inherent in viewpoints other than one's own; in encouraging the free interchange of ideas; in welcoming fresh approaches to the problems of life; in urging the fullest, most vigorous use of critical self- examination.   --Adlai Stevenson https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Adlai_Stevenson