Physician and naturalist Sir Hans Sloane was born on this date in 1660, in Ireland. In 1687, he was sent to Jamaica to become family physician to the newly appointed colonial governor, Christopher, Duke of Albermarle. It was there that Sloane gathered more than 800 species of plant specimens unknown in England. This collection plus his books and manuscripts would be the foundation for the establishment of the British Museum. In 1719, he was elected president of the Royal College of Physicians. He was also knighted by King George I and appointed physician to Queen Anne. Later, he was named physician to King George II. Sloane died in 1753, at the astonishing age, for that time, of 93.

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