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Johann Reinhold Forster (1729–1798) was a German pastor and naturalist. After studying theology at the University of Halle, Forster was hired in 1765 by Russia to inspect its colonies on the Volga; his report was critical and he left for England unpaid. Forster succeeded Joseph Priestley at Warrington Academy, and published a mineralogy textbook and translations of foreign works. After Joseph Banks withdrew from James Cook's second voyage, Forster became the naturalist on Cook's ship. On the journey, they made the first recorded crossing of the Antarctic Circle and observations and discoveries in New Zealand and Polynesia. Amid disputes with Cook over who should publish accounts of the journey, Forster published his scientific Observations Made During a Voyage Round the World. Having alienated many powerful men in England, Forster returned to Germany, becoming a professor at Halle; he died in 1798. He is commemorated in the names of species, including the genera Forstera and Forsterygion. (Full article...)

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Linognathus setosus

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In the news

Aleksander Barkov

In ice hockey, the Florida Panthers (captain Aleksander Barkov pictured) defeat the Edmonton Oilers to win the Stanley Cup.
In motorsport, Robert Kubica, Yifei Ye, and Phil Hanson of AF Corse win the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
In the US state of Minnesota, state representative Melissa Hortman is assassinated and state senator John Hoffman is injured.
Former president of Nicaragua and first elected female president in the Americas Violeta Chamorro dies at the age of 95.

On this day

June 21: Fête de la Musique; International Day of Yoga; National Indigenous Peoples Day in Canada; Xiazhi in China (2025)

Replica of the Manchester Baby

217 BC – Second Punic War: The Carthaginians under Hannibal ambushed a Roman army at the Battle of Lake Trasimene, capturing or killing 25,000 men.
1848 – In the Wallachian Revolution, Ion Heliade Rădulescu and Christian Tell proclaimed a new republican government in present-day Romania.
1898 – In a bloodless event during the Spanish–American War, the United States captured Guam from Spain.
1919 – During a general strike in Winnipeg, Canada, members of the Royal North-West Mounted Police attacked a crowd of strikers, armed with clubs and revolvers.
1948 – The Manchester Baby (replica pictured), the world's first stored-program computer, ran its first program.

Claude Auchinleck (b. 1884)
Maureen Connolly (d. 1969)
William, Prince of Wales (b. 1982)
Wong Ho Leng (d. 2014)

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Today's featured picture

The Cape Barren goose (Cereopsis novaehollandiae) is a species of goose endemic to southern Australia. It was first formally described by the English ornithologist John Latham in 1801. Adult Cape Barren geese are large birds, typically measuring 75 to 100 centimetres (30 to 39 inches) long and weighing between 3.7 to 5.2 kilograms (8.2 to 11.5 pounds), with males generally being larger than females. The plumage is mostly pale grey with a slight brown tint. The head is somewhat small in proportion to the body and mostly grey in colour, save for a pale whitish patch on the forehead and crown. Cape Barren geese are largely terrestrial, only occasionally swimming. They predominantly graze on grasses, sedges, legumes, herbs, and succulents. This group of Cape Barren geese in flight was photographed near Hanson Bay, on Kangaroo Island in South Australia.

Photograph credit: Charles J. Sharp

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