THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 20
It has been well over 24 hours since I first emailed Press Harbor about the problems I am encountering with the Pink Flamingo's Word Press blog. I have yet to hear from them. Fortunately I have attracted some "professional" help. Naturally everything will be MY fault. I don't know about you, but I'm getting tired of people who refuse to take responsibility for their mistakes. I do. Heck, I screw up all the time. Maybe I'm the only one who does. 
Are you as alarmed and confused about the story out of AZ about the 8 year old boy who allegedly murdered his father and his father's friend? George Archibald has an excellent piece today about the incident.
Copernicus grave found
Physics of teardrops
Canine bite mystery
Are some times of the month better to hunt Bigfoot?
Huge reserves of frozen water have been discovered on Mars. This is HUGE! If there is water we can generate oxygen.
The Feds are finally figuring out that a catastrophic earthquake is going to hit the New Madrid - Memphis - St. Louis area one of these days.
THE CHAMBERS BOOK OF DAYS
Born: Mean Francois de la Harpe, miscellaneous writer (Lycée ou Cours de is Littérature); Thomas Chatterton, poet, 1752, Bristol; Louis Alexandre Berthier, Prince of Wagram, general of Napoleon, 1753, Versailles.
Died: Sir Christopher Hatton, statesman and courtier of Queen Elizabeth, 1591; Caroline, queen of George II of England, 1737; Cardinal de Polignac, statesman and man of letters, 1741, France; Abraham Tucker, author of The Light of Nature Pursued, 1774, Betchworth. Castle, near Dorking; Roger Payne, celebrated bookbinder, 1797; Mountstuart Elphinstone, Indian diplomatist, &c., 1859, Hookward Park Surrey.
Feast Day: St Maxentia, virgin and martyr. St. Edmund, king and martyr, 870. St. Humbert, bishop of the East Angles, martyr, 9th century. St. Bernard, bishop of Hildesheim, confessor, 1021. St. Felix of Valois, confessor, 1212.
THE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE DOUBLED BY VASCO DA GAMADied: Sir Christopher Hatton, statesman and courtier of Queen Elizabeth, 1591; Caroline, queen of George II of England, 1737; Cardinal de Polignac, statesman and man of letters, 1741, France; Abraham Tucker, author of The Light of Nature Pursued, 1774, Betchworth. Castle, near Dorking; Roger Payne, celebrated bookbinder, 1797; Mountstuart Elphinstone, Indian diplomatist, &c., 1859, Hookward Park Surrey.
Feast Day: St Maxentia, virgin and martyr. St. Edmund, king and martyr, 870. St. Humbert, bishop of the East Angles, martyr, 9th century. St. Bernard, bishop of Hildesheim, confessor, 1021. St. Felix of Valois, confessor, 1212.
The doubling of the Cape of Good Hope by Vasco da Game, on the 20th of November 1497, was a notable event in the world’s history not on account of the actual discovery of that cape, which had been made some years earlier, but from the solution of an important question, whether or not India could be reached from Europe by sea. Columbus, we know, sought to reach that far famed land of gold and diamonds, perfumes and spices, by a western route across the Atlantic. He discovered America instead, and those islands, which we now call the West Indies, owe their name to the geographical error which formerly prevailed regard their position. The Spanish monarchs, who first fostered and then neglected Columbus, countenanced those projects which led to the discovery, conquest, and settlement of various parts of America; but the kings of Portugal were the great promoters of the enterprises by which South Africa and India were laid open to Europeans.
With the assistance of a map of Africa, the reader can easily trace the steps by which these discoveries were effected. In the year 1412, Prince Henry of Portugal, a man gifted far beyond the average intelligence of his age, determined to send out a ship to explore the west coast of Africa, by sailing southward from the Straits of Gibraltar. The first voyage was not attended with much success; but the prince pursued the scheme at intervals for many years. In 1415, one of the exploring vessels thus sent out reached as far as Cape Non. In 1418, John Gonzales Zano and Tristam Vaz Texeira, two gentlemen of Prince Henry’s court, made a voyage which enabled them to discover the island of Madeira. After a period of several years, marked by discoveries of a minor character, Gillianez doubled Cape Bojador in 1433 an event which led Pope Martin V, in the plenitude of liberality and inadvertence, to bestow on the king of Portugal all that might be afterwards discovered in Africa and India; a papal concession that gave rise to serious international disputes in after days.
In 1441, Antonio Gonzales and Nuno Tristan advanced as far south as Cape Blanco; a progress which was followed up by Vicente de Lagos and Aloisio de Cada Mosto, who, in 1444, advanced to the river Gambia, and by Cada Mosto, who, in 1446, reached Senegal and Cape de Verde. A long interval now ensued, unmarked by any discoveries of importance on the west African coast. In 1470, the Portuguese discoveries recommenced with a voyage by Fernando Gonaz nearly as far south as the equator. Some years after this, the northern limit of the kingdom of Congo was reached; and in 1484 the river of the same name was attained by Diego Cano. Then came discoveries of a far more important description. King John of Portugal, in 1486, sent out two expeditions to discover an eastern route to India, and likewise the whereabouts of the mysterious potentate known as Prester John. The latter eluded all search, but India did not. One of the expeditions proceeded through Egypt and down the Red Sea, and, amid many difficulties, crossed the Arabian Sea or Indian Ocean to Calicut, in India.
The other, under Bartholomew Diaz, comprising two caravals and a small store ship, proceeded southward beyond the latitude of the Cape of Good Hope; and Diaz doubled it, or went round it from west to east with-out knowing it. He coasted a thousand miles of the African shores never before seen by Europeans; and though difficulties prevented him from crossing over to India, he had the joy of finding, on his return, that he had really reached and passed the cape which forms the southern extremity of Africa. He called it Cabo Tormentoso, the Cape of Torments, or Tempests, on account of the rough weather which he experienced there; but the king said: No, it shall be the Cape of Good Hope, for the discovery is one of great promise! At last came the expedition of Vasco da Gama, to which all the above were preliminary. King Emanuel of Portugal (King John’s son) sent him out in 1497, in command of three vessels, with 160 men. He doubled the cape on 20th November, sailed northward, and discovered Sofala, Mozambique, and Melinda; and then, guided by an Indian pilot, he crossed the ocean from Melinda to Calicut in twenty three days. All that followed was a mere finishing of the great problem: Vasco da Gama was the first who made the entire voyage from Western Europe to India, so far as records enable us to judge.
With the assistance of a map of Africa, the reader can easily trace the steps by which these discoveries were effected. In the year 1412, Prince Henry of Portugal, a man gifted far beyond the average intelligence of his age, determined to send out a ship to explore the west coast of Africa, by sailing southward from the Straits of Gibraltar. The first voyage was not attended with much success; but the prince pursued the scheme at intervals for many years. In 1415, one of the exploring vessels thus sent out reached as far as Cape Non. In 1418, John Gonzales Zano and Tristam Vaz Texeira, two gentlemen of Prince Henry’s court, made a voyage which enabled them to discover the island of Madeira. After a period of several years, marked by discoveries of a minor character, Gillianez doubled Cape Bojador in 1433 an event which led Pope Martin V, in the plenitude of liberality and inadvertence, to bestow on the king of Portugal all that might be afterwards discovered in Africa and India; a papal concession that gave rise to serious international disputes in after days.
In 1441, Antonio Gonzales and Nuno Tristan advanced as far south as Cape Blanco; a progress which was followed up by Vicente de Lagos and Aloisio de Cada Mosto, who, in 1444, advanced to the river Gambia, and by Cada Mosto, who, in 1446, reached Senegal and Cape de Verde. A long interval now ensued, unmarked by any discoveries of importance on the west African coast. In 1470, the Portuguese discoveries recommenced with a voyage by Fernando Gonaz nearly as far south as the equator. Some years after this, the northern limit of the kingdom of Congo was reached; and in 1484 the river of the same name was attained by Diego Cano. Then came discoveries of a far more important description. King John of Portugal, in 1486, sent out two expeditions to discover an eastern route to India, and likewise the whereabouts of the mysterious potentate known as Prester John. The latter eluded all search, but India did not. One of the expeditions proceeded through Egypt and down the Red Sea, and, amid many difficulties, crossed the Arabian Sea or Indian Ocean to Calicut, in India.
The other, under Bartholomew Diaz, comprising two caravals and a small store ship, proceeded southward beyond the latitude of the Cape of Good Hope; and Diaz doubled it, or went round it from west to east with-out knowing it. He coasted a thousand miles of the African shores never before seen by Europeans; and though difficulties prevented him from crossing over to India, he had the joy of finding, on his return, that he had really reached and passed the cape which forms the southern extremity of Africa. He called it Cabo Tormentoso, the Cape of Torments, or Tempests, on account of the rough weather which he experienced there; but the king said: No, it shall be the Cape of Good Hope, for the discovery is one of great promise! At last came the expedition of Vasco da Gama, to which all the above were preliminary. King Emanuel of Portugal (King John’s son) sent him out in 1497, in command of three vessels, with 160 men. He doubled the cape on 20th November, sailed northward, and discovered Sofala, Mozambique, and Melinda; and then, guided by an Indian pilot, he crossed the ocean from Melinda to Calicut in twenty three days. All that followed was a mere finishing of the great problem: Vasco da Gama was the first who made the entire voyage from Western Europe to India, so far as records enable us to judge.
Dime con quien andas y te digo quien eres.
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