Benjamin Morrell (1795–1839) was an American sealing captain and explorer who between 1823 and 1831 made a series of voyages, mainly to the Southern Ocean and the Pacific Islands. Morrell's reputation among his peers was for untruth and fantasy. Claims in his partly ghost-written memoir, A Narrative of Four Voyages, especially those relating to his Antarctic experiences, have been disputed by geographers and historians. After running away to sea at the age of 16 and being twice captured and imprisoned by the British during the War of 1812, Morrell sailed before the mast for several years and subsequently became captain of the sealer Wasp. In 1823 he took Wasp for an extended voyage into sub-Antarctic waters, and it was from this first of four voyages that much of the controversy surrounding his reputation developed. Many of his claims—the first landing on Bouvet Island, a Weddell Sea penetration to 70°S, an extremely rapid passage of 3,500 miles (5,600 km) at improbably high latitudes, and the discovery of a coastline he named New South Greenland—have been doubted or proved false. His subsequent three voyages, in other ships, were less contentious, although his descriptions of various incidents have been dismissed as fanciful or absurd. He is believed to have died in 1839 of a fever contracted in Portuguese East Africa.

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_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

636:

Rashidun Caliphate forces led by Khalid ibn al-Walid took control of Syria and Palestine in the Battle of Yarmouk, marking the first great wave of Muslim conquests after the death of Muhammad. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Yarmouk

1794:

American troops defeated the Western Confederacy, a Native American alliance, at the Battle of Fallen Timbers, the decisive battle of the Northwest Indian War. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Fallen_Timbers

1882:

Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture was first performed at the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1812_Overture

1977:

NASA's Voyager 2 lifted off from Cape Canaveral in Florida, on a mission to explore the outer planets of the Solar System. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voyager_2

1989:

The final stage of the O-Bahn Busway in Adelaide, South Australia, was completed, becoming the world's longest and fastest guided busway with buses travelling a total of 12 km (7.5 mi) at maximum speeds up to 100 km/h (62 mph). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O-Bahn_Busway

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

buxom (adj): 1. (of a woman) Having a full, voluptuous figure, now especially possessing large breasts. 2. (archaic) Cheerful, healthy and lively, happy http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/buxom

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

Science traditionally takes the reductionist approach, saying that the collective properties of molecules, or the fundamental units of whatever system you're talking about, are enough to account for all of the system's activity. But this standard approach leaves out one very important additional factor, and that's the spacing and timing of activity — its pattern or form. --Roger Wolcott Sperry http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Roger_Wolcott_Sperry