William T. Stearn (16 April 1911 – 9 May 2001) was a British botanist. Born in Cambridge in 1911, he was largely self-educated. He was librarian at the Royal Horticultural Society in London from 1933 to 1952 and then moved to the Natural History Museum as a scientific officer in the botany department until 1976. After retirement, he became President of the Linnean Society and taught botany at Cambridge University. He is known for his work in botanical taxonomy, botanical history, and botanical illustration and for his studies of the Swedish scientist Carl Linnaeus. He is the author of Botanical Latin, as well as the Dictionary of Plant Names for Gardeners, a popular guide to the Latin names of plants. He was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1957. Considered one of the most eminent British botanists of his time, he is the botanical authority for over 400 plants that he named and described. An essay prize in his name from the Society for the History of Natural History is awarded each year.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_T._Stearn> _______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries: 1818: The United States Senate ratified the Rush–Bagot Treaty, which laid the basis for a demilitarized boundary between the U.S. and British North America. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rush%E2%80%93Bagot_Treaty> 1847: New Zealand Wars: A minor Māori chief was accidentally shot by a junior British Army officer in the Petre settlement of New Zealand's North Island, triggering the Wanganui Campaign. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wanganui_Campaign> 1912: American Harriet Quimby became the first woman to fly across the English Channel. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harriet_Quimby> 1917: Vladimir Lenin returned to Petrograd from Switzerland, and joined the Bolshevik movement in Russia. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladimir_Lenin> 2014: The South Korean ferry MV Sewol sank 1.5 km (0.93 mi) offshore of Donggeochado, Jindo County, with around 300 of the 476 onboard killed. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinking_of_MV_Sewol> _____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day: sprachbund: (linguistics) A group of languages sharing a number of areal features (similar grammar, vocabulary, etc.) which are primarily due to language contact rather than cognation. <https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/sprachbund> ___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day: If fifty million people say a foolish thing, it is still a foolish thing. --Anatole France <https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Anatole_France> _______________________________________________ Wikipedia Daily Article mailing list. To unsubscribe, visit: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/daily-article-l Questions or comments? Contact dal-feedb...@wikimedia.org
