Spanish conquerors brought bullfighting to Mexico. Second only to Spain, Mexico now has the most bullfighting rings in the world. Mexico City's Plaza de Toros México -- which literally translates as "Plaza of the Bulls" -- is the largest bullring in the world.
Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (née Godwin). She was an English novelist, short story writer, dramatist, essayist, biographer, and travel writer -- and you probably know her as the author of the 1818 novel Frankenstein: or, The Modern Prometheus.
I mean, just look at its face! This is a porcelain Japanese incense burner in the form of a dog. Circa 1750 to 1800
In 1659, when Louis XIV of France and Philip IV of Spain met to sign the Treaty of the Pyrenees following the Thirty Years’ War, they did so on Pheasant Island, an uninhabited island in the Bidasoa river between their two nations. Ever since, the island has remained under joint sovereignty. That's been 300 years of keeping this treaty, for those counting at home. Note that only one country has sovereignty at any given time. The island is governed alternately by Spain and France, changing hands every six months.
The Peloponnesian War ended in 1996. The bloody conflict between Athens and Sparta had stopped in 404 B.C. without an official peace pact, so after 2,500 years the cities decided to sign a symbolic agreement. It read, “Today we express our grief for the devastating war between the two key cities of ancient Greece and declare its end.”
Mr. Johnathan Trumbull, governor of Connecticut, was the lone governor. He was promptly elected as the new state's governor, and was re-elected every year of the war. Trumbull was a friend and adviser of General Washington throughout. He dedicated the resources of Connecticut to the fight for independence, and Washington declared him "the first of the patriots."
We focus too much on the British Empire. Let's give France its colonizing, imperialist due.
This blog is a collection of the interesting, the weird, and sometimes the need-to-know about history, culled from around the internet. It has pictures, it has quotes, it occasionally has my own opinions on things. If you want to know more about anything posted, follow the link at the "source" on the bottom of each post. And if you really like my work, buy me a coffee or become a patron!
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