Ferdinand Magellan

Today in History 11/28 (Ferdinand Magellan)

Leave a Comment
A print of Ferdinand Magellan discovering the path to the Pacific (© Hulton Archive/Getty Images)(1520) Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan reaches the Pacific
The navigator is the first European to reach the Pacific Ocean after sailing the treacherous waters around the tip of South America. Magellan had left Spain in search of a western route to the Spice Islands. His expedition will be the first to circumnavigate the globe.
Magellan’s expedition was the first to circumnavigate the globe and the first to navigate the strait in South America connecting the Atlantic and the Pacific oceans. Magellan’s name for the Pacific was adopted by other Europeans.
After sailing through the dangerous straits below South America that now bear his name, Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan enters the Pacific Ocean with three ships, becoming the first European explorer to reach the Pacific from the Atlantic.

On September 20, 1519, Magellan set sail from Spain in an effort to find a western sea route to the rich Spice Islands of Indonesia. In command of five ships and 270 men, Magellan sailed to West Africa and then to Brazil, where he searched the South American coast for a strait that would take him to the Pacific. He searched the Rio de la Plata, a large estuary south of Brazil, for a way through; failing, he continued south along the coast of Patagonia. At the end of March 1520, the expedition set up winter quarters at Port St. Julian. On Easter day at midnight, the Spanish captains mutinied against their Portuguese captain, but Magellan crushed the revolt, executing one of the captains and leaving another ashore when his ship left St. Julian in August. On October 21, he finally discovered the strait he had been seeking.

French map of the first world circumnavigation of Ferdinand de Magellan and Juan Sebastián Elcano, from 1519 to 1522
The Magellan–Elcano voyage. Victoria, one of the original five ships, circumnavigated the globe, finishing 16 months after Magellan’s death.
wiki/Ferdinand_Magellan
4.16.n18

(1520) Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan reaches the Pacific.
Also on this day,

1582 | William Shakespeare marries Anne Hathaway
Eighteen-year-old William Shakespeare and Anne Hathaway, age 26, pay 40 pounds for a wedding license in Stratford-upon-Avon. Six months later the couple will have a daughter, followed later by twins. Scant details will be known about the Bard’s marriage.
1943 | ‘Big Three’ allied leaders Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin meet in Tehran
US President Franklin Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, the so-called ‘Big Three,’ come together to discuss strategies for winning the war against the Nazis. The Tehran Conference is the first time Roosevelt and Stalin meet in person.
1974 | John Lennon joins Elton John in NYC
After losing a bet, John Lennon performs three songs with Elton John at New York’s Madison Square Garden, including Lennon’s hit ‘Whatever Gets You Thru the Night.’ It would be one of Lennon’s final performances, and his last in front of such a large audience.

Today in History 11/28/17

(From left) Soviet Union Premier Josef Stalin, US President Franklin D. Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill at the Teheran Conference, November 28, 1943 (© British Official Photo via AP)(1943) Allied leaders Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin meet in Tehran
US President Franklin Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, the so-called 'Big Three,' come together to discuss strategies for winning the war against the Nazis. The Tehran Conference is the first time Roosevelt and Stalin meet in person.
The Tehran Conference was a strategy meeting of Joseph Stalin, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Winston Churchill from 28 November to 1 December 1943, after the Anglo-Soviet Invasion of Iran. It was held in the Soviet Union's embassy in Tehran, Iran. It was the first of the World War II conferences of the "Big Three" Allied leaders. It closely followed the Cairo Conference which had taken place on 22–26 November 1943, and preceded the 1945 Yalta and Potsdam conferences. Although the three leaders arrived with differing objectives, the main outcome of the Tehran Conference was the Western Allies' commitment to open a second front against Nazi Germany. The conference also addressed the 'Big Three' Allies' relations with Turkey and Iran, operations in Yugoslavia and against Japan, and the envisaged post-war settlement. A separate protocol signed at the conference pledged the Big Three to recognize Iran's independence.
Start date: Nov 28, 1943
End date: Dec 01, 1943

Mohammad Reza Shah, Stalin und Molotov, Tehran Conference, 1943
The Shah of Iran (center), pictured to the right of Joseph Stalin at the Tehran Conference (1943)

wiki/Tehran_Conference
4.6.n17


Today in History 09/06 (Baltic States)

Pro-independence rally of 300,000 people in Vilnius, Lithuania, Apr 7, 1990 (© Chip HIRES/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)(1991) Three Baltic states break free
Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia are officially independent republics after more than half a century of Soviet rule. The Baltic States have been vying for independence for almost that long, with the late ’80s’ ‘Singing Revolution’ and ‘Baltic Way’ human chain paving the way for autonomy.
The Baltic states, also known as the Baltic countries, Baltic republics, Baltic nations or simply the Baltics, is a geopolitical term used for grouping the three sovereign states in Northern Europe on the eastern coast of the Baltic Sea: Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. The term is not used in the context of cultural areas, national identity or language. The three countries cooperate on a regional level in several intergovernmental organizations.
Area: 67,574 sq miles
Colleges and universities: University of Tartu · Vilnius University · Vytautas Magnus University · University of Latvia · Riga Technical University · Kaunas University of Technology · Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre · Tallinn University · Lithuanian University of Health Sciences · LCC International University · Baltic Defence College

The Baltic states
   (Green) The Baltic states.
   (Dark-grey) Europe.

wiki/Baltic_states
4.15.A18

(1991) Three Baltic states break free.
Also on this day,

1522 | Nao Victoria sails into Seville after a historic journey round world
After three years, 42,000 miles, and the first circumnavigation of the world, the Nao Victoria sails back into her Spanish home port. Of the original five ships and more than 200 sailors that started Magellan’s expedition, only the Victoria and 18 men have returned from the globe-spanning voyage.
1901 | President William McKinley assassinated
Visiting the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York, half a year into his second term, US President William McKinley is shot twice by anarchist Leon Czolgosz. McKinley will at first survive, and even seem to be improving after doctors operate, but will succumb to his wounds eight days later.
1995 | Cal Ripken Jr. breaks Lou Gehrig’s record
The Baltimore Orioles’ shortstop plays in his 2,131st consecutive game, breaking Lou Gehrig’s record which had stood since 1939. Ripken will continue his streak for three more years, ending it in 1998 after 2,632 games played over 16 years.

Today in History 09/06/17

US President William McKinley (left) on the day he was shot, Sept 6, 1901, with John G. Milburn at the Pan American Exposition (© AP)(1901) President William McKinley assassinated
Visiting the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York, half a year into his second term, US President William McKinley is shot twice by anarchist Leon Czolgosz. McKinley will at first survive, and even seem to be improving after doctors operate, but will succumb to his wounds eight days later.
On September 6, 1901, William McKinley, the 25th President of the United States, was shot on the grounds of the Pan-American Exposition at the Temple of Music in Buffalo, New York. He was shaking hands with the public when Leon Czolgosz, an anarchist, shot him twice in the abdomen. McKinley died eight days later on September 14 of gangrene caused by the gunshot wounds. He was the third American president to have been assassinated, following Abraham Lincoln in 1865 and James A. Garfield in 1881.
Date: Sep 06, 1901

wiki/Assassination_of_William_McKinley
4.4.j17