100px|Frederick Russell Burnham in 1901
Frederick Russell Burnham (1861–1947) was an American scout and world
traveling adventurer known for his service to the British Army in
colonial Africa and for teaching woodcraft to Robert Baden-Powell, thus
becoming one of the inspirations for the founding of the international
Scouting Movement. Burnham had little formal education, attending high
school but never graduating. He began his career at 14 in the American
Southwest as a scout and tracker for the U.S. Army in the Apache Wars
and Cheyenne Wars. Sensing the Old West was getting too tame, as an
adult Burnham went to Africa where this background proved useful. He
soon became an officer in the British Army, serving in several battles
there. During this time, Burnham became friends with Baden-Powell, and
passed on to him both his outdoor skills and his spirit for what would
later become known as Scouting. Burnham eventually moved on to become
involved in espionage, oil, conservation, writing and business. His
descendants are still active in Scouting. (more...)
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Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_Russell_Burnham>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1825:
After no presidential candidate received a majority of electoral votes,
the U.S. House of Representatives elected John Quincy Adams president.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Quincy_Adams>
1913:
A group of meteors was visible across much of the eastern seaboard of
North and South America, leading astronomers to conclude the source had
been a small, short-lived natural satellite of the Earth.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meteor_procession_of_February_9%2C_1913>
1945:
World War II: HMS Venturer sank U-864 in history's only incident where
one submarine has intentionally sunk another while both were fully
submerged.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Action_of_9_February_1945>
1959:
The Soviet R-7 Semyorka, the world's first intercontinental ballistic
missile, became fully operational.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R-7_Semyorka>
1971:
A 6.6 Mw earthquake struck the northern San Fernando Valley near the
Los Angeles district of Sylmar, killing 65 people.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1971_San_Fernando_earthquake>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
twitcher (n):
(informal) A compulsive bird watcher, travelling long distances to see
rare species
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/twitcher>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is
no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither
thou goest.
I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift,
nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet
riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but
time and chance happeneth to them all. For man also knoweth not his
time: as the fishes that are taken in an evil net, and as the birds
that are caught in the snare; so are the sons of men snared in an evil
time, when it falleth suddenly upon them.
--Ecclesiastes
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ecclesiastes>
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