Who was the first European to have been to the Southern hemisphere?
Prior to landings in Australia, the Portuguese had many excursions that crossed the equator. Wikipedia suggests that it was Diogo Cão who first landed south of the equator. [quote]In August 1482, Cão arrived at the Congo River mouth and marked it with a padrão erected on Shark Point, commemorating the Portuguese occupation. This padrão stood until 1642 when it was destroyed by the Dutch during their occupation of the Congo.[7]
Cão sailed up the great river for a short distance and [...] then proceeded south along the coast of present-day Angola where he erected a second padrão, probably marking the termination of this voyage, at Cabo de Santa Maria.[13°25?07?S 12°32?00?E].[/quote] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diogo_Cão (odo5435)
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Mar 31 26 by chabenao1
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Mar 31 26 by chabenao1
Who was the first European to have been to the Southern hemisphere?
Willem Janszoon.
While many European explorers crossed the equator in the 15th and 16th centuries, Willem Janszoon is generally credited with the first recorded European landing in the Southern Hemisphere (Australia) in early 1606. Dutch explorer Abel Tasman was the first to reach Tasmania and New Zealand in 1642.
Key Explorers of the Southern Hemisphere:
Willem Janszoon (1606): Dutch navigator who, in the Duyfken, landed on the western side of the Cape York Peninsula in Australia, marking the first confirmed European landfall in the Southern Hemisphere.
Pedro Fernández de Quirós (1606): Portuguese explorer sailing for Spain who reached the New Hebrides (now Vanuatu).
Luis Vaez de Torres (1606): Navigated the strait between Australia and New Guinea, proving New Guinea was an island.
Abel Tasman (1642): Dutch explorer who discovered Tasmania (which he named Van Diemen's Land and was the first European to sight New Zealand.
https://www.google.com/search?q=first+European+to+visit+southern+hemisphere&oq=first+European+to+visit+southern+hemisphere+&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyBggAEEUYOTIHCAEQIRigATIHCAIQIRigATIHCAMQIRigAdIBCjExMDI0NmowajeoAhSwAgHxBecqurMYJHhT&client=ms-android-hmd-terr1-rso1&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8#lfId=ChxjMe (elvislennon)
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Mar 31 26 by chabenao1
Did Marco Polo visit the island of Hormuz?
[quote]Hormuz Island has gone through a series of name changes over the centuries. The ancient Greeks referred to the island as Organa. During the Islamic period, it was called Jarun. Finally, the island was named Hormuz after the important harbor town of the same name. Several notable explorers have traveled to Hormuz Island, including Marco Polo, who visited the island in 1290. The island was later visited by famous Arab explorer, Ibn Battuta. In the 15th century, a Chinese fleet sailed to the island as part of their voyage to explore the Indian Ocean.[/quote]
www.worldatlas.com/islands/hormuz-island.html#:~:text=Several%20notable%20explorers%20have%20traveled%20to%20Hormuz%20Island%2C,of%20their%20voyage%20to%20explore%20the%20Indian%20Ocean. (pehinhota)
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Mar 29 26 by chabenao1
The colony of which European kingdom issued the first anti-slavery proclamation in America in 1654, limiting the duration of slavery to six years and setting a wage?
The English Colony of Rhode Island issued a limitation in 1652, it limited the term of servitude to 10 years.
[quote]On May 18th, 1652, Rhode Island became the first of the thirteen colonies to ban slavery. The good intentions of those who wrote the law, however, went unheeded - the statute was largely ignored for over a century, as many merchants in the state became leading slave traders in colonial America.
The act read,
"Whereas, it is a common course practiced amongst English men to buy negroes, to that end they have them for service or slave forever: let it be ordered, no blacke mankind or white being forced by covenant bond, or otherwise, to serve any man or his assighnes longer than ten years or until they come to bee twentie four years of age, if they be taken in under fourteen, from the time of their cominge with the liberties of this Collonie."[/quote]
https://whatsupnewp.com/2025/05/this-day-in-ri-history-may-18-1652-rhode-island-becomes-the-first-colony-to-pass-an-anti-slavery-law/ (elburcher)
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Mar 29 26 by pehinhota
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Mar 26 26 by pehinhota
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Mar 25 26 by pehinhota
What was the name of the last dog sent into space by the Soviet Union in 1960?
Zvyozdochka.
On the March 25th of 1961, the last dog-cosmonaut named Zvyozdochka (in translation from Russian: Little Star) completed a successful space flight. Her contribution to science gave the Soviet scientists enough confidence to start sending humans to space. Zvyozdochka was launched just a couple of weeks before the first human, Yuri Gagarin, stepped out to journey into the outer space.
https://leaderofthepackdogtraining.org/zvyozdochka-the-last-dog-in-space/
(elvislennon)
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Mar 25 26 by pehinhota
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Mar 24 26 by odo5435
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Mar 23 26 by pehinhota
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Mar 21 26 by pehinhota
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Mar 21 26 by pehinhota
Does Brian May have any brothers or sisters?
The key line from the source states that "Brian, an only child, grew up in the middle?class, suburban comforts...", which confirms he has no brothers or sisters.
(javelpaul143)
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May 02 08 by stuthehistoryguy
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Nov 29 03 by Jenni36
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Mar 19 26 by satguru
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Mar 19 26 by satguru
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Feb 14 26 by satguru
Why would an airline pilot transmit a 'Pan-Pan' call rather that an 'Mayday' call?
Both terms originate from French to ensure they were easily understood by pilots and controllers on both sides of the English Channel in the 1920s.
- "Mayday" derived from the French "m'aider" (from "venez m'aider"), meaning "help me". It was proposed in 1923 by Frederick Mockford to provide a clear, unmistakable distress signal for voice radio.
- "Pan-Pan" derived from the French word "panne", meaning a "breakdown" or "mechanical failure". It is used for urgent situations that are not yet life-threatening.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pan-pan (wellenbrecher)
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Mar 18 26 by odo5435
In which month did the French revolution start?
Tensions and financial issues preceded, but May 1789 is when the Estates-General, an advisory group consisting of clergy, nobility, and commoners, was convened and represented the start of the French Revolution.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Estates_General_of_1789 (Rizeeve)
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Mar 19 26 by chabenao1
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Mar 18 26 by odo5435
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Mar 18 26 by odo5435
Which knight and military leader was sentenced to death by King Edward II of England for his unauthorized truce with his rebellious northern kingdom, but only three months later had to conclude a thirteen-year truce with the Scottish rebels?
Sir Andrew Harclay (or Hartley) (anglicized from Andreas de Harcla), Earl of Carlisle
[quote]In 1321 he was summoned to parliament as a baron. The next year he gathered and led the northern forces that defeated and captured Thomas, Earl of Lancaster at Boroughbridge. On 25 March, just three days after Lancaster's execution, Harclay was created Earl of Carlisle, being girded with the comital sword by King Edward II himself. In addition he was promised land grants suitable for that rank.
The defeat of the rebels enabled the king to turn his attention to Scotland. Harclay raised another considerable force towards this campaign, but was unable to meet up with the royal forces before their disastrous defeat at Old Byland.
Afterwards the north of England became very hard to defend against Scottish raiding, and apparently Harclay decided to take matters into his own hands, and met with Robert I of Scotland to propose peace terms. Several different versions of the resulting agreement are extant, which has led to a lack of consensus amongst historians regarding the reasonableness of the proposal.
In any case King Edward could deem it nothing less than treason. Harclay was arrested, and hanged, drawn and quartered on 3 March 1323.[/quote]
https://www.geni.com/people/Sir-Andrew-de-Harcla-1st-Last-Earl-of-Carlisle/6000000010400801935 (elburcher)
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Mar 16 26 by pehinhota
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Mar 16 26 by pehinhota
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Mar 17 26 by WesleyCrusher
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Feb 14 26 by satguru
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Mar 16 26 by pehinhota
Does the 'Spanish Main' still exist?
The Spanish Main included "Spanish Florida and New Spain, the latter extending through modern-day Texas, Mexico, all of Central America, to Colombia and Venezuela on the north coast of South America" (Wikipedia) - and because these countries still exist today, it could be argued semantically that the "Spanish Main" still exists today - but because those countries are no longer part of the vast Spanish empire that once existed throughout the world, it could be argued more sensibly that the Spanish Main no longer exists.
Putting it another way, the whole of the eastern half of Australia was once known as the colony of New South Wales, but I'm sure if any of the separate states that are now part of the eastern half of Australia today but exist as separate states (Queensland, Northern Territory, South Australia, Victoria and Tasmania) were referred to as such, you'd probably end up in a pub brawl. (Creedy)
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Mar 10 26 by odo5435
What was Sluggy Hollow?
1920s Los Angeles house
Humphrey Bogart and his third wife, actress Mayo Methot, called their 1920s Los Angeles house Sluggy Hollow-the name alluded to their famously contentious relationship.
https://www.themostexpensivehomes.com/celebrity-homes/10-incredible-hollywood-vintage-mansions-how-the-stars-lived/#:~:text=Humphrey%20Bogart%20and%20his%20third%20wife%2C%20actress%20Mayo,Hollow%E2%80%94the%20name%20alluded%20to%20their%20famously%20contentious%20relationship. (pehinhota)
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Mar 16 26 by serpa
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Dec 30 25 by GBfan
In 1914 which forensic pathologist succeeded for the first time in criminal history in scientifically detecting poison in the bones and body parts?
It appears that the detection of poisons, specifically Arsenic, were around much earlier than 1914.
[quote]The Marsh Test
Legal Vindication of the Marsh Test
Because the arsenic in the Marsh test was separated from the forensic sample in the form of a gas, the complications that had plagued earlier precipitation tests were avoided and it soon became the definitive procedure for the forensic detection of arsenic. It was first employed in France during the 1840 trial of an attractive young widow by the name of Marie-Fortunée Lefarge, who was accused of poisoning her much older husband, Charles, with arsenic that she had allegedly purchased for the purpose of killing rats. The trial was closely followed by the French press, especially when several faulty attempts to detect arsenic in Charles' body using the new Marsh test proved negative, only to be subsequently overturned when repeated by the famous toxicologist, Mathieu Orfila, who had been originally hired as an expert witness by the defense! In the end Marie was found guilty and the Marsh test both legally and publicly vindicated.[/quote]
https://homepages.uc.edu/~jensenwb/museum-notes/26.%20Marsh%20Apparatus.pdf (elburcher)
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Mar 13 26 by pehinhota
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Mar 13 26 by pehinhota
Between 1883 and 1885, which Romanian city was the terminus for the legendary Orient Express?
This was because passengers had to leave the train and board a ferry to cross the Danube. They then took the train again to continue their journey on the other side.
[quote]Vienna remained the terminus until 4 October 1883, when the route was extended to Giurgiu, Romania. At Giurgiu, passengers were ferried across the Danube to Ruse, Bulgaria, to pick up another train to Varna. They then completed their journey to Constantinople, as the city was still commonly called in the west at the time, by ferry.[/quote]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orient_Express#History (wellenbrecher)
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Mar 09 26 by pehinhota
Does the 'Spanish Main' still exist?
The 'Spanish Main' does not exist today, for the land around the now Gulf of Mexico was once conquered by Spain during the 16th to 19th centuries, and now the coastline is various countries, from modern-day Panama to the Orinoco delta in Venezuela, sometimes including parts of Central America and Mexico. Also, piracy has now ceased.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_Main (Philip_Eno)
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Mar 10 26 by odo5435
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Mar 09 26 by pehinhota
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Jan 21 26 by serpa
Which wall is considered the second longest in the world after the Great Wall of China?
The Moroccan Western Sahara Wall (also called the Berm) is the second longest after China's Great Wall, at about 2,700 km (1,700 miles). Morocco built it from 1980 to 1987 to separate their controlled areas - with key resources like phosphates - from the Polisario-held Free Zone. The wall is heavily fortified with sand berms, bunkers, fences, radar and the world's longest continuous minefield.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moroccan_Western_Sahara_Wall (wellenbrecher)
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Feb 27 26 by pehinhota
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Dec 30 25 by GBfan
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Feb 27 26 by pehinhota
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Mar 04 26 by pehinhota
During which event did Alberto Korda take the most famous photo of Che Guevara?
Alberto Korda took the photograph "Guerrillero Heroico" in Havana, Cuba, on 5 March 1960. Che Guevara, an Argentinian, was there for a memorial for the 75-100 people blown to bits by the explosion of the French freighter Le Coubre on 4 March 1960. Fidel Castro blamed the US for the sabotage of 76 tons of munitions on board.
(FatherSteve)
2 answers
Mar 04 26 by pehinhota
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