The Challenger Expedition was a scientific and exploring expedition carried out at the expense of the British Government by means of the ship Challenger, a frigate-built vessel of about 2000 tons, fully equipped with all the most improved scientific appliances for ascertaining the depth, temperature, currents, etc, of the ocean, and the character of the ocean bottom, and for amassing natural history specimens. The ship set sail on December the 7th, 1872, under the command of Captain (afterwards Sir) George Nares, Professor (afterwards Sir) Wyville Thomson being at the head of the scientific staff attached to the ship. In the course of the expedition the ship called at Madeira, Teneriffe, the Bermudas, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Cape Verde Islands, Cape of Good Hope, Kerguelen Islands, Melbourne, Sydney, Hong Kong, Japan, Valparaiso, etc, returning home by way of the Strait of Magellan, and arriving on May the 24th, 1876. During the three and a half years of the cruise the ship traversed about 70,000 nautical miles, and a vast amount of highly useful information was accumulated, the results being published at government expense in a great many volumes. Several popular works on the expedition were also published. Research Challenger Expedition
The ISO (International Standards Organisation) assigns a two character code to each country name. These codes are used by Internet 'whois' databases (these two character abbreviations are the whois country codes) and also other applications.
Bacillus pestis (Bacterium pestis, Yersinia pestis, Pasteurella pestis, Pestisella pestis) is the coccobacillus that causes bubonic plague. It was discovered in 1894 by Kitasato at Hong Kong. Research Bacillus pestis
Sir Henry Bart Pottinger was a distinguished British soldier and diplomat. He was born in 1789 and died in 1843 at Hong Kong. He went to India as a cadet in 1804 and soon became known for his energy and administrative ability. Rising gradually to the rank of major-general, he was, after the Afghancampaign in 1839, raised to the baronetage as a reward for his services. In 1841 he went as minister-plenipotentiary to China, and contributed much to bring hostilities to a conclusion. He was successively governor and commander-in-chief of Hong Kong in 1843 and governor of the Cape of Good Hope in 1846 and governor and commander-in-chief of Madras from 1847 to 1854. Research Henry Pottinger
Sir John Bowring was an English statesman and linguist. He was born in 1792 at Exeter and died in 1872. The son of a cloth manufacturer,while still very young he was taken by his father into his own business, and employed by him to travel in different parts of Europe. Having an extraordinary linguistic faculty he made use of his residence in foreign countries to acquire the different languages, and his first publications consisted of translations of poems and songs from the Russian, Serbian, Polish, Hungarian, Swedish, Frisian, Estonian, Spanish, and other languages. He is well known also by his translations from Goethe, Schiller, and Heine. He was an ardentRadical and supporter of Jeremy Bentham, and edited the Westminster Review from 1825 to 1830. He held various government appointments, one of them being the governorship of Hong Kong, and the last being in 1861, when he was sent to Italy to report on British commercial relations with the then new kingdom. Research John Bowring
Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse was an English humorous novelist. He was born in 1881 at Guildford, Surrey and died in 1975. Educated at Dulwich College he worked for the Hong Kong and Shanghai bank for two years before becoming a journalist and writer of short stories. Originally famous for his 1917 'Piccadilly Jim' during the Second World War he was captured by the Germans and agreed to make radio broadcasts for them. Branded a traitor, he settled in the USA after the war. Among the many books he wrote he invented the comic characters 'Jeeves and Wooster'. Research P.G. Wodehouse
Sun Yat Sen was the founder and first president of the Chinese Republic. He was born in 1867 near Canton and died in 1925. Educated at the American university at Hawaii, while studying medicine in Hong Kong he abandoned medicine to become a politician and took part in a revolutionary plot in 1895 and upon its discovery fled to England. He was captured in 1896 by the Chinese Legation in London and held prisoner until his release was demanded by the Prime Minister. In 1905 he founded the China Revolutionary League in Europe and Japan and played a large part in the revolution of 1911. Research Sun Yat Sen
Sir Thomas Sutherland was a British shipowner. He was born in 1834 at Aberdeen and died in 1922. Educated at the university of Aberdeen he entered the Peninsular and OrientalSteamship Company, representing the company in China for some years. He helped to found the Hong Kongdocks and the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank and became a member of the legislative council of the colony. He was chairman of the P & O line from 1880 until 1914 and member of parliament for Greenock from 1884 until 1900. He was created a KCMG in 1891 and GCMG in 1897. Research Thomas Sutherland
Brandon Lee was an actor. He was born in 1964 at Oakland, California and died in 1992. A martial arts expert, trained by his father Bruce Lee, Brandon Lee always wanted to be an actor, and first appeared in the 1986 television film 'Kung Fu', and his feature film debut in 1988 in the Hong Kong produced film 'Legacy of Rage'. He was killed in a freak accident while making the film 'The Crow'. A prop bulletlodged in the barrel of a gun was propelled out by the firing of a blankcartridge only to strike Brandon Lee who died several hours later in hospital. Research Brandon Lee
Abbreviations
Research Challenger Expedition
