Henry Morton Stanley
Monday November 10, 2008
On November 10, 1871, journalist and explorer Henry Morton Stanley uttered the greeting which became legendary: "Dr. Livingstone, I presume?" Stanley, an improbable character, had been dispatched by a New York City newspaper to the interior of Africa to find the missionary and explorer David Livingstone.
Upon Stanley's return to civilization, some questioned whether Livingstone had even been missing. But that didn't matter. Stanley returned to Africa with later expeditions, mapping previously mysterious parts of the interior. He always remained controversial, yet he became known as the archetypal African explorer.
Image: Magazine illustration of Stanley greeting Livingstone/Library of Congress
Comments
That Stanley always remained controversial is an euphemism. He was Leopold 2nd of Belgium main explorer and the way he treated black people was simply appalling. He also seemed to have lied about many features of his life, both private and public.