95px|Henry Edwards

Henry Edwards (1827–1891) was an English-born stage actor, writer and expert in the science of insects who gained fame in Australia, San Francisco, and New York City for his theatre work. Edwards was drawn to the theatre early in life, and he appeared in amateur productions in London. After sailing to Australia, Edwards appeared professionally in Shakespearean plays and light comedies, primarily in Melbourne and Sydney. Throughout his childhood in England and his acting career in Australia, he was greatly interested in collecting insects, and the National Museum of Victoria used the results of his Australian fieldwork as part of the genesis of their collection. After writing a series of influential studies on butterflies and moths on the West Coast of the United States, he was elected a life member of the California Academy of Sciences. Relocating eastward, a brief time spent in Boston theatre led to a connection to Wallack's Theatre and further renown in New York City. There, Edwards edited three volumes of the leading insect journal Papilio and published a major work on the life of the butterfly. His large collection of insect specimens served as the foundation of the American Museum of Natural History's butterfly and moth studies. (more...)

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_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1396:

Ottoman wars in Europe: Ottoman forces under Bayezid I defeated a Christian alliance led by Sigismund of Hungary in the Battle of Nicopolis near present-day Nikopol, Bulgaria. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Nicopolis

1868:

The Russian frigate Alexander Nevsky wrecked off northwestern Jutland, nearly drowning Grand Duke Alexei. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_frigate_Alexander_Nevsky

1977:

About 4,200 people took part in the first running of the Chicago Marathon. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_Marathon

1983:

In one of the largest prison escapes in British history, 38 Provisional Irish Republican Army prisoners hijacked a prison meals lorry and smashed their way out of HM Prison Maze in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maze_Prison_escape

1996:

The last Magdalene asylum, an Irish institution to rehabilitate so-called "fallen" women, was </ul> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magdalene_asylum

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

lampoon (v): To satirize or poke fun at http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/lampoon

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

No one is without Christianity, if we agree on what we mean by that word. It is every individual’s individual code of behavior by means of which he makes himself a better human being than his nature wants to be, if he followed his nature only. Whatever its symbol — cross or crescent or whatever — that symbol is man’s reminder of his duty inside the human race. --William Faulkner http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/William_Faulkner