October 26

William Sprague was born in 1609 in England and emigrated to New England in the early 1630s. He was among the group that established Charlestown and helped negotiate land grants. Sprague assisted in building the settlement’s first structures and laying out roads. He maintained relations with local Indigenous peoples to ensure the colony's survival. His leadership fostered Charlestown's growth into an important port town. He died in 1675, leaving a lasting legacy in one of Massachusetts’s earliest communities.

Amédée-François Frézier was born in 1682 into a family with cartographic interests. He trained in mathematics and military engineering before entering French service. In 1712–1714, Frézier undertook a scientific expedition to Chile, mapping the coastline. He documented native flora, introducing the strawberry variety Fragaria chiloensis to Europe. His engineering works included designing coastal defenses for the French navy. Frézier published detailed reports, contributing to geography and botany. He died in 1773, remembered for blending scientific inquiry with practical engineering.

Paul Pelliot was born in Paris in 1878 and mastered several Asian languages while training at the École des Langues Orientales. In 1906, he embarked on a landmark expedition through Turkestan, where he visited the Mogao Caves at Dunhuang and uncovered thousands of ancient manuscripts. Pelliot meticulously documented and transported key texts to France, opening new avenues in the study of Silk Road history. After his return, he became a professor at the Collège de France, shaping generations of Oriental scholars. His translations and analyses of Chinese and Central Asian sources remain foundational in sinology. Pelliot’s combination of fieldwork and scholarship established him as a pioneering figure in Asian studies. Despite the challenges of early 20th-century travel, his legacy endures in museums and libraries worldwide.