On this date in history….

These events in my recent books have anniversary dates to note in 2018.

In 10 Ships That Rocked the World …..

230 years ago in Australia….the First Fleet convict ship “Lady Penrhyn dropped anchor on January 20, 1788, in Botany Bay. There would be no return from this final destination” for the 122 women and children from Britain sentenced to transport, a form of exile often for petty crimes. The transports continued until 1868, bringing settlers who are the ancestors of 20% of today’s population, which celebrates Australia Day on January 26.

154 years ago, off the South Carolina coast.…H.L.Hunley, the first submarine developed as a weapon during the US Civil War, set out to torpedo a Union warship on February 17, 1864. “After delivering its fatal blow, the Hunley disappeared….It was lost, along with the entire crew (of 8 men)…” Rediscovered in 1995 and raised from the sea, this ship showed that undersea warfare was possible, and inspired the modern submarines used for deep-sea investigation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In 10 Plants that Shook the World…..

150 years ago…. brothers George and Richard Cadbury first came up with the idea to make boxed chocolates in England in 1868. Our favorite Valentine’s treat would not have been possible without cacao beans, known to Indigenous people in Central America for centuries, but later grown on plantations powered by slaves.

190 years ago.… “in 1828, a Dutchman, Coenraad Van Houten, invented a press to squeeze out most of cacao’s fat content” to create the powder we know as cocoa. Enjoy your hot chocolate drink, but remember the dark path of cacao’s history, as even today, child workers are treated unfairly in some tropical regions where it is grown.