Anna Blackburne (1726–1793) was an English botanist and collector. She
was born at Orford Hall in Lancashire into a family of landowners and
after her mother's death she remained there with her father, John
Blackburne, who had hothouses for exotic plants and an extensive
library. Blackburne taught herself Latin so she could read the Systema
Naturae of Carl Linnaeus, and created a natural history museum where she
collected insects, shells, minerals and birds. She knew the naturalist
Johann Reinhold Forster, who instructed her in entomology, and
corresponded with other naturalists including Linnaeus. Her brother
Ashton, who lived in New York, sent her specimens of North American
birds, which were described by the naturalist Thomas Pennant in his
Arctic Zoology. After her father's death, Blackburne and her museum
moved to nearby Fairfield Hall. After her death, her nephew John
Blackburne inherited her collection. Several species are named for her,
including the Blackburnian warbler.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_Blackburne>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1842:
A train derailed and caught fire near Versailles, France,
killing at least 52 people.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Versailles_rail_accident>
1927:
French aviators Charles Nungesser and François Coli aboard the
biplane L'Oiseau Blanc took off from Paris, attempting to make the first
non-stop flight to New York, only to disappear before arrival.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%27Oiseau_Blanc>
1963:
In Huế, South Vietnam, soldiers opened fire into a crowd of
Buddhists protesting against a government ban on the flying of the
Buddhist flag on Phật Đản, killing nine and sparking the Buddhist
crisis.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hu%E1%BA%BF_Ph%E1%BA%ADt_%C4%90%E1%BA%A3n_shootings>
1972:
Four members of Black September hijacked Sabena Flight 571 to
demand the release of 315 Palestinians convicted on terrorism charges.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sabena_Flight_571>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
whither:
1. Interrogative senses.
2. To what place; where.
3. (figurative, also humorous) To what (future) cause, condition or
state, reason, etc.; where, where next; also (obsolete) to what extent;
how far.
4. Relative senses.
5. To which place; also (after a noun denoting a place) to which.
6. To the place in or to which.
7. (generally) In or to any place to which; to whatever place; wherever.
8. (formal, archaic except literary or poetic) A place to which someone
or something goes; also, a condition to which someone or something
moves. [...]
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/whither>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
It used to be said, that in places like this, nature eventually
failed to support man, the truth is exactly the reverse, here man failed
to support nature. Ten thousand years ago man regarded the natural world
as divine, but as he domesticated animals and plants so nature lost some
of its mystery and appeared to be little more than a larder that could
be raided with impunity.
--David Attenborough
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/David_Attenborough>
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