Fanny Bullock Workman (1859–1925) was an American geographer, cartographer, explorer, travel writer, and mountaineer, notably in the Himalaya. She was one of the first female professional mountaineers; she not only explored but also wrote about her adventures. She set several women's altitude records, published eight travel books with her husband, and championed women's rights and women's suffrage. Educated in the finest schools available to women, she was introduced to climbing in New Hampshire. She married William Hunter Workman, and traveled the world with him. The couple had two children, but left them in schools and with nurses. Workman saw herself as a New Woman who could equal any man. The Workmans wrote books about each trip and Workman frequently commented on the state of the lives of women that she saw. They explored several glaciers and conquered several mountains of the Himalaya, eventually reaching 23,000 feet (7,000 m), a women's altitude record at the time. Workman became the first woman to lecture at the Sorbonne and the second to speak at the Royal Geographical Society. She received many medals of honor and was recognized as one of the foremost climbers of her day.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fanny_Bullock_Workman

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1341:

Italian scholar and poet Petrarch took the title poet laureate at a ceremony in Rome. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petrarch

1740:

War of the Austrian Succession: The Royal Navy captured the Spanish ship of the line Princesa and mustered her into British service. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Princess_(1740)

1820:

A Greek peasant discovered a statue of a woman with its arms missing—the Venus de Milo (pictured)—on the Aegean island of Milos. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venus_de_Milo

1968:

BOAC Flight 712 suffered an engine fire shortly after take-off from London Heathrow Airport, leading to deaths of five people on board, including flight attendant Barbara Jane Harrison, who was later awarded a posthumous George Cross for her heroism during the accident. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbara_Jane_Harrison

2013:

Two Sunni Muslim Islamic extremist groups, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Al-Nusra Front, merged to become the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, also known as ISIS. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_State_of_Iraq_and_the_Levant

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

cross swords: (idiomatic) To quarrel or argue with someone, to have a dispute with someone. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/cross_swords

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

If we only have love We will never bow down We'll be tall as the pines Neither heroes nor clowns. If we only have love Then we'll only be men And we'll drink from the Grail To be born once again. Then with nothing at all But the little we are We'll have conquered all time All space, the sun, and the stars!   --Jacques Brel https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jacques_Brel