August 18 – The Wilkes Expedition Sets Off

Posted on August 18, 2021

This is an update of my post published August 18, 2010:

On this date in 1938, the Wilkes Expedition launched from Hampton Roads in Virginia.

Nineteenth-century science and the U.S. science establishment got a huge boost from this expedition, which used U.S. Naval ships to explore the world, primarily the Pacific Ocean, including Hawaii, Fiji, and the coastlines of Oregon and Antarctica. More than 60,000 plant and bird specimens were collected, and many of these formed the bulk of the original collections of the Smithsonian Institution.

Formally called “the United States Exploring Expedition,” the venture was nicknamed the “Ex. Ex.” After years of planning, the Ex. Ex. finally weighed anchor on this day in 1838.

There were six ships, but in the four years of the expedition, one sank. In addition to ship pilots and crews, the expedition included naturalists, botanists, engraver/illustrators, a mineralogist, a conchologist, taxidermists, an interpreter, and a philogist. Match the job titles in this list with the descriptions below:

1. naturalist

2. botanist

3. engraver / illustrator

4. mineralogist

5. conchologist

6. taxidermist

7. interpreter

8. philogist

A. one who stuffs dead animals for exhibition

B. one who studies plants

C. one who studies rocks and minerals

D. one who creates pictures through printmaking techniques

E. one who studies mollusks and their shells

F. one who translates from one language to another

G. one who studies plants and animals

H. one who studies languages and linguistics

Answers below!

ANSWERS: 

1.G

2.B

3.D

4.C

5.E

6.A 

7.F

8.H

Also on this date:

Anniversary of the discovery of helium 

Anniversary of some discoveries about the Sun

Serendipity Day

Bad Poetry Day

Anniversary of the first child of English parents to be born in the Americas

Disappearance Day

National Fajitas Day

Anniversary of a Fireball

Anniversary of the first known climb of Mount Whitney

National Badge Ribbon Day

Birthday of the “Grandmother of the Conservation Movement,” Mardy Murie

Plan ahead:

Check out my Pinterest boards for:

• August holidays
• August birthdays
• Historical anniversaries in August

And here are my Pinterest boards for:

• September holidays
• September birthdays
• Historical anniversaries in September