On this day in 1777, the First Battle of Saratoga is fought between British troops and American colonists. Although the British suffered twice as many casualties, they were able to push the Americans off the ground they were holding. American commanding General Horatio Gates argued with his second in command, Brigadier General Benedict Arnold, throughout the battle about the position of troops. Afterward, Gates relieved Arnold of his duties, and the rest is traitorous history. On this day in 1985, a magnitude 8.1 earthquake jolts Mexico City. Estimates are 10,000 killed, 30,000 injured. On this day in 1955, the Argentinian military stages a coup and seizes power from Juan Peron, ending his decade-long Presidency. Having died in 1952, his popular wife Eva "Evita" Peron, is not there to sing about it.
On this day in 1512, an expedition of 270 men aboard 5 ships, led by Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan, set sail from Spain hoping to discover a western route to the spice islands of Indonesia. Two ships were lost before the expedition reached South America, where they eventually found the treacherous passage now called the Straits of Magellan, and entered the Pacific Ocean in October. Magellan was killed by natives in the Phillipines in April 1513. On Sept. 6, 1522, the last remaining ship, loaded down with Indonesian spices, arrived in Spain to complete the first circumnavigation of the globe. On this day in 1806, Lewis and Clark arrive at the settlement of La Charette in the Missouri Territory, completing their 2 and a half year exploration of the Louisiana Territory. They had charted the Missouri River to its source, seen the Pacific Ocean, and proved there was no navigable water passage across the continental divide. When they arrived at La Charette, they were completely out of provisions and tradeable goods, and had been living off the land for some time. On this day in 1972, Billie Jean King, the number one rated women's tennis player in the world, beat 55-year old former men's number one player Bobby Riggs in the highly-publicized "Battle of the Sexes" exhibition. Within a year, the US Open became the first major tournament to give equal prize money to its men's and women's champions.
I too almost died in the Philippines albiet from the over consumption of just about every vice on the planet. Man to be 18 and in Angeles's City and subic bay again.
