“The great south sea caterpillar, transform’d into a Bath butterfly” (1795), James Gillray's caricature of English naturalist, botanist and patron of the natural sciences Joseph Banks, born #onthisday in 1743. More on the iconography of Banks here https://publicdomainreview.org/essay/joseph-banks-portraits-of-a-placid-elephant #otd

Abolitionist leader Frederick Douglass died #onthisday in 1895, aged 77. Read his only published work of fiction "The Heroic Slave", first featured in Autographs for Freedom, an anthology of anti-slavery literature published in 1853: https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/autographs-for-freedom-1853?utm_content=buffer1de80&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer #otd