The name Sebastian Cabot won’t sound strange to history enthusiasts, especially those interested in the Age of Exploration. He was a navigator and cartographer who alternated between serving England and Spain (he also offered his services to his native Venice) when these countries were not yet enemies and became chief pilot of the Casa de […]
America
Posted inMiddle Ages
The Genoese Brothers who Disappeared in Search of a Spice Route in the 13th Century
In the late 13th century, two Genoese brothers with a musical surname embarked on the daunting adventure of finding an alternative spice route. Their idea was to reach India with two galleys, aided by sailors from Majorca, but after crossing the Strait of Gibraltar, they were never heard from again. They may have shipwrecked while […]
Posted inStone Age Archaeology
Archaeologists Unearth the Oldest Beads in the Americas
University of Wyoming archaeologists have uncovered evidence of early beadmaking among some of the earliest Americans. Excavating at the La Prele Mammoth site in Wyoming, Professor Todd Surovell’s team found a tiny bone bead dating to around 12,900 years ago. At just 7 millimeters long, it’s the oldest known bead discovered in the Americas. La […]
Posted inPre-Columbian Era, Science
Researchers Discover that Syphilis-like Diseases Were Widespread in the Americas Before Columbus’ Arrival
Scientists have made an amazing discovery that sheds new light on the history of an important disease. Researchers from the universities of Basel and Zurich in Switzerland found the genetic material of the pathogen Treponema pallidum in the bones of people who died in Brazil around 2,000 years ago. This is the oldest confirmed discovery […]
Posted inArchaeology
Another Primate migrated to North America Across the Bering Strait Millions of Years before Humans did
Millions of years before humans first arrived in North America, another primate made the journey across what is now known as the Bering Land Bridge. Paleontologists have uncovered the story of this long-lost primate relative, called Ekgmowechashala. Ekgmowechashala lived around 30 million years ago in North America. At this time, the continent was experiencing major […]
Posted inModern Era
Miami, the city founded in 1896 on the land of a sole person
On September 14th, 1898, a few weeks after the US and Spain signed an armistice in the Spanish-American War and the Spanish army capitulated to the US in Manila, meningitis killed a middle-aged woman who left a series of debts but was buried in a preferential place at the Miami cemetery. It was only fair, […]
Posted inModern Era
Gonzalo Guerrero, the Spanish castaway who became a Mayan and fought against the conquistadors
When we talk about miscegenation in reference to the ethnic and cultural fusion that the conquest of America by the Spanish meant, there is a character that embodies it almost emblematically. He is Gonzalo Guerrero, a shipwrecked man who, after years of living with a Mayan tribe, became naturalized, formed a family and even fought […]
