Think of it, 1540:

Hernando de Alarcón’s 1540 Expedition into the Lower Colorado River

The Mayflower was still 80 years off in the future at the time.

Friday, May 27, 1774. Heading towards revolution.

The Royal Governor of Virginia, Lord Dunmore, dismissed Virginia's House of Burgesses due to a resolution, prepared by Thomas Jefferson, calling for a Day of Fasting and Prayer being passed.  The cause for Virginia's concern over British reaction to the Boston Tea Party, and it came on the same day that the British Navy planned to blockade Boston's harbor in punishment for the same.

The heavy-handed British reaction was propelling things in the very direction that the British did not want it to go.

The members of the House did not go right home, but instead convened as an Association, at the Raleigh Tavern, where they called for a Continental Congress.

Juan Bautista de Anza completed his overland expedition from Tubac, Mexico to San Gabriel Mission, in modern Los Angeles, California.

The Reverend Robert Newburgh was accused by a private British soldier of the 18th Regiment of Foot, stationed in the Colonies, of beggary.  He would be acquitted in a trial in June. The story was bizarre as he had invited the charge in the first instance, and coached the private on how to make it, seemingly in an effort to overall clear his name as he became increasingly unpopular.  He'd seen three soldiers tried for gossiping.

The plan would fail, and he'd ultimately be arrested after his acquittal for being disruptive, although his being accused of an "unnatural crime", the one he'd been just acquitted of, was mentioned at the time.

To the extent that this story is illustrative of anything, it's partially illustrative of the harsh discipline in the British Army of the period, as well as the somewhat junior high atmosphere that existed in 18th and 19th Century armies.  Additionally, however, it's interesting as neither the terms "heterosexual" or "homosexual" existed at the time, those being modern constructs, the latter of which did not originally apply to those who might commit beggary.

Last prior edition:

Saturday, April 5, 1774. A growing rift.

Labels: 1770s, 1774, American Revolution, Benjamin Franklin, Colonial North America, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Thomas Gage

Friday July 22, 1921. The Disaster at Annul.

Spanish forces in Morocco, fighting in the Rif War, sustained a defeat at the Battle of Annul.   The defeat was crushing and involved the loss of the entire Spanish command right down to senior leadership.  Only a cavalry unit was able to maintain order and extract itself in a fighting retreat. Most of the command being made up of Spanish conscripts, they lost order quickly and were mowed down by Moroccan forces.

Bodies of Spanish soldiers killed in the battle being observed in January, 1922.

The disaster led to a Spanish retreat that would feature additional disasters.  Losses at Annul amounted to at least 13,000 Spanish dead out of a command of 20,000.

Spain was in Morocco, as was France, as part of an effort to expand its colonies into Africa.  Spain had, of course, a long association with Morocco, and it was frequently not a pleasant one.  Morocco had proven politically weak, but Berber tribes were highly organized and fielded what amounted to a regular army.  Spain in contrast garrisoned conscripts in the country who did not wish to be there, and its officer corps spent most of its time in non-military, and often low, pursuits.  Spain's military leadership believed that its forces would prevail, when the Rif Berbers went into war with them, simply because they were Spanish.

As an added comment on this disaster, It's interesting to note that it didn't instantly destroy the Spanish government and bring it down.  It actually did contribute to that, and a coup resulted in 1923, but it was a military coup, not a coup that tossed out the monarchy right that moment. That would take until 1931 when a democratic regime, albeit a very shaky one, was restored.

Additionally, for those who romanticize monarchy, and there are those who do, the Spanish crown was a Catholic monarchy but the military mission to Morocco was a moral sewer.  Prostitution was rife in the territory with Spanish prostitutes following the Spanish army into the region, resulting in a high social disease infection rate.  Officers were far from immune from this and the molestation of Moroccan women was common, which no doubt contributed to the rebellion.

Friday, July 22, 1921. The Douglas Aircraft Company founded.

On this day in 1921 the legendary Douglas Aircraft Company was founded in Santa Monica, California.

A manufacturer of legendary aircraft, particularly the DC-3, the company merged with McDonnell Aircraft in 1967.  The new McDonnell Douglas merged with Boeing in 1997.

Oddities of Cultural and Historical Correctness.

King Ferdinand II of Aragon and Queen Isabella I of Castile, two Spanish monarchs whose regal motto was Tanto monta, Isabel como Fernando, or They amount to the same, Isabella and Ferdinand, symbolizing their equality as monarchs, something further cemented by a prenuptial agreement to that effect. Among the successes of their unification of the Spanish crown and the accompanying unification of most of the Iberian peninsula under a single, Spanish, crown, was the launching of the Spanish Empire through the sponsorship of Christopher Columbus' endeavor.  Did we note that they were Spanish?

Denver has renamed Columbus Park "La Raza Park".

Because, as we know, Christopher Columbus was a racist colonizer.

La Raza, we're informed, is a name that has all positive connotations for Hispanics of all ethnicities.

It translates as "the race".

Now, in using that term, we need to be careful.  Many people if they called themselves "the race" would be using a term that would be, after all, racist.  Particularly if you were using a term associated with a racist colonial endeavor.

Christopher Columbus, as we know, was a racist colonizer.

He was working for the King and Queen of Spain. . . who were Hispanics. . . and whose Spanish conquest created . . . well. . . "the race".

So, Denver, in an effort to be culturally pure has taken away from a park the name of an Italian contractor with the Hispanic crown and renamed the park for the results of his work, in actual terms.

Things get complicated when you seek to be woke.