Category
History
68 articles
Atahualpa's Chess Game Is Legend; His Bat-Hair Cloak Is Not
Two stories from Atahualpa's captivity: the chess game everyone cites and a cloak woven from bat hair. Only one of them is documented.
Stockholm Syndrome Was Born to Silence a Hostage
The famous syndrome didn't come from a study: the police's own psychiatrist coined it to discredit a hostage who criticized him. It isn't in the DSM.
Procrastination: The Vice That Infuriated the Romans Who Coined the Word
Procrastination comes from the Latin «cras», tomorrow. Hesiod scolded procrastinators 2,700 years ago and Cicero declared it hateful. We're not the first.
When the Amazon Was the Richest Place on Earth
The rubber boom raised an opera house in the jungle and delirious fortunes in Manaus and Iquitos. Then 70,000 seeds wiped it off the map.
Nietzsche's Sister Founded an Aryan Colony in Paraguay
In 1886, Elisabeth Nietzsche and her antisemitic husband took 'pure' German families into the Paraguayan jungle. It went exactly as it deserved.
The Canal Was Built in Panama Thanks to a Postage Stamp
In June 1902, every U.S. senator received a Nicaraguan stamp showing a smoking volcano. Three days later, the canal went to Panama.
The Panamanian Swamp That Nearly Bankrupted Scotland
In 1698, Scotland bet a national fortune on founding a colony in Panama's Darién. Two years later it had no colony, no money — and no independence.
Serendipity: The Word Born in a Letter From 1754
Few words have an exact birth certificate. Serendipity was born on January 28th, 1754, in a private letter — and its root is the old name of Sri Lanka.
Vikings Never Wore Horned Helmets
Not a single horned Viking helmet exists in all of archaeology. The myth was invented by the costume designer of a Wagner opera in 1876.
Narcissus Didn't Fall in Love With Himself: The Myth Behind “Narcissist”
Half the internet wants to know what a narcissist is. The Greek myth that named the word doesn't tell the story you think — and it's far better.
The War of the Worlds Panic Never Happened
The night Orson Welles terrified America is a myth manufactured by the press. The real panic came eleven years later — in Quito, Ecuador.
The Curse of Tutankhamun: The Numbers Don't Add Up
Of those present at the tomb's opening in 1922, the vast majority lived for decades. The pharaoh's curse was real — but the press invented it.
Does the Word “Travel” Really Come From a Torture Device?
Viral etymology says “travel” (and Spanish “trabajo”) comes from the tripalium, a Roman torture device. Short answer: sort of. The long one is better.
Why Is the Panama Hat Called Panama If It Was Born in Ecuador?
The world's most famous hat is woven in Montecristi and Cuenca, yet it bears another country's name. The story of a stylish injustice.
Maecenas Was Not a Word: He Was a Man
Behind every patron of the arts stands a real man: Gaius Maecenas, Augustus' millionaire friend who paid poets — and changed history doing it.
Why Does September Mean Seven If It's the Ninth Month?
September comes from septem, seven — yet it's the ninth month. Neither Julius Caesar nor Augustus is to blame: the story is older and stranger.
Tulip Mania: When a Flower Became a Financial Bubble
In the Holland of 1637, a single tulip bulb came to be worth more than an Amsterdam canal house. The story of the first great financial bubble.
The Origin of the Word “Sybarite”
Sybaris was the richest, most luxurious city of ancient Greece — until its dancing horses doomed it. This is how the word sybarite was born.
The Origin of the Word “Ostracism”
In classical Athens, scratching a name on a piece of broken pottery could banish a man for ten years. This is how ostracism was born.
The Real Origin of the Word “Gringo”
Everyone repeats that “gringo” comes from “green go home”, but the word already existed in Spain in 1787. This is the real story behind the term.
Klein-Venedig: when Venezuela almost became German
For nearly two decades, part of Venezuela was administered by German bankers under the Spanish Crown. A province turned into a contract.
Isaac Peral and his electric submarine
In 1888, Isaac Peral launched an electric submarine that could navigate underwater and fire torpedoes. Spain had the future in its hands, then buried it in paperwork.
Project Huemul: the secret Argentine experiment that promised to master nuclear fusion
On an island in Lake Nahuel Huapi, Argentina tried to master nuclear fusion. Ronald Richter, Juan Perón, and the failure that helped seed the Balseiro Institute.
The samurai who arrived in Acapulco
In 1614 a Japanese galleon dropped anchor in Acapulco carrying a samurai ambassador. He crossed Mexico, reached Rome, and his sailors still have descendants in a town near Seville.
Rescuing the Bardellini Tower
It stood on Guayaquil's Malecón for only four years before falling to a structural miscalculation. I rebuild in 3D the clock tower the city almost forgot.
The History and Origin of All the Tomalás
Behind the Tomalá surname hides a story of balsa rafts, caciques, empires and resistance: the chief of Puná Island who would not surrender to Huayna Cápac or to the first colonial order.
Why did so many Peruvians fight the Battle of Pichincha? An essay and chronicle of the Santa Cruz Expedition
On May 24, 1822, the freedom of Quito was decided. But a huge part of the patriot army did not come from Ecuador: it came from Peru.
The Giant Stones of Yap and What Money Really Is
On a tiny Pacific island, money was made of giant stones — some so heavy they never moved, and one of them sat at the bottom of the sea.
A Foolproof and Irresponsible Strategy for Governing and Being Loved
There's an almost foolproof strategy for governing and being loved: spend today and let someone else pay tomorrow
The Story of a Fruit That Was Rented
A few years ago, I was researching for the book Guayaquil, Historias a Color, reviewing photographs of Guayaquil from over a century ago
The Origin of the Word "Boycott"
Doesn't this little word sound strange to you? Like it doesn't quite fit with most words in the
The Robot That Defeated Napoleon
At the end of the 18th century, a Hungarian inventor built a magical automaton. Dressed in oriental attire, the
The Pope's Corpse That Was Put on Trial
It happened in the year 897, during a turbulent period in the history of the Catholic Church known as
Barbecued Meat and the Origin of the Buccaneers
The buccaneers were a fierce and ruthless breed of pirates who prowled the seas back in the 17th century
The 1949 Ambato Earthquake: One of Ecuador's Most Devastating Disasters
The 1949 Ambato earthquake was one of the most devastating natural disasters in Ecuador's history
The Invisible Giants and Their Shoulders of Concrete: The Story of Forgotten Brilliant Minds
A phrase I've always liked, for everything it carries behind it, is one uttered
The Chilling Origins of the Word Defenestrate
With all the political instability here in Latin America, this peculiar little word keeps echoing through the news, to describe
Máchica and Pinol: The Ancestral Energy Bars of the Indigenous Americas. Recipe Included.
Now that energy bars have become trendy and I see them in every store, I
A Brief Study on the Origin of the Term "Pelucón"
In 2007, Rafael Correa took office as President of Ecuador and immediately dusted off a practically forgotten
The Astonishing Love Story of Isabel de Godín
Twenty years apart, a crossing of the Andes and the Amazon, and almost her entire party dead. The story of the woman who crossed half a continent to be reunited with her husband.
Everest Is NOT the World's Tallest Mountain!
First, let's be clear: Mount Everest is the world's tallest mountain—as long as you measure from sea level, which has been the custom.
Ecuador: An Ungovernable Eden. A Chronicle of Political Instability
Ecuador's history is riddled with coups d'état, and I'm not just referring to the relatively recent period of instability...
Origins of the word cocolón and no, it does not come from "cook too long"
Attending the concern of a good friend who asked me on twitter if there is something true with
A window to Ecuador from a century ago. Photo restoration.
Last year, in the midst of the pandemic, I met with two good friends: Paul Estrella and Chento
Old Guayaquil in video
Since I was a child I experienced a fascination for that previous city. Maybe because my grandparents used to talk to her
Who stole Einstein's brain and then walked it around in the trunk of his car?
Albert Einstein was undoubtedly one of the best known characters of the 20th century. A certain veneration for his
The History of Smiling in Photographs: From the Mona Lisa to Digital Cameras
I recently posted on Twitter an old colorized photo of several people and it didn't take long
Historic Routes of Ecuador's Railroad: Alfaro's Train and Many Other Paths
Some time ago, curiosity led me to retrace old routes, guided by maps and tales from weathered books
Punta de Piedras and the Oyster Sauté
Not so long ago, just a few handfuls of decades, the city was besieged by pirates. They stole the
The last purple on the planet
In the Prado Museum, in Madrid, there is a painting by the famous Rubens, entitled The Discovery of the
The before and after of a restoration of old photographs with artificial intelligence and Photoshop
A few weeks ago I started posting OLD PHOTOGRAPHS on Twitter processed with artificial intelligence algorithms and additionally
The Volcano of San Vicente
Near the city of Salinas, Ecuador, there is a sign that indicates a short detour to the “Baños
The First Laptop in History: EPSON HX-20.
Review of the first laptop in history, invented by EPSON. It had a printer included and a battery that gave it incredible autonomy.
Hidden details in the photograph of a Guayaquil tram
Author: Vicente Adum Gilbert, June 11, 2020 I have had this image in my digital collection of photographs
Medardo Ángel Silva and Pavlova's Dance
Written by: Vicente Adum G. This video features the famous ballerina Anna Pavlova performing The Dying
When We Brushed Our Teeth with Radioactive Toothpaste and Drank Coca-Cola with Cocaine
The title may sound bizarre, but throughout history humanity has used the most
The Count of Monte Cristo
By: Raúl Guerrero The first book I read from cover to cover was an illustrated summary of The
The miraculous malaria cure that became a gin and tonic
Before the arrival of the Spanish, the aboriginal tribes of South America knew of the miraculous property of the
The Men Who Carried Cuenca's Light on Their Shoulders
Electric light, the first car and even a protest jeep all reached Cuenca carried on human shoulders. The most epic isolation story in the Andes.
The strange parties to inhale anesthesia of the early 19th century
Nitrous oxide was one of the first effective anesthetics discovered, but it did not always have that important use.
The Voice of the last Castrato. The only known recording of the famous singer Alessandro Moreschi.
Long ago, prosperity and fame were the coveted awards for those extraordinary voices who
Chipipe is not Shit Pipe
A few days ago I heard a badly made rumor. Someone came up with the "theory" that the
Eloy Alfaro wanted to die?
Much has been said about the barbarous events in which Eloy Alfaro and his most
Looking for the lost Eiffel bridge in Ecuador
A few months ago (2013), reading a book on the history of the Ecuadorian railroad, I came across a paragraph
The almost unknown bet that changed the history of humanity.
If there is a turning point that changed the course of humanity, it was the revelation by
The dance plague of 1518, the Pied Piper of Hamelin and the tarantulas
Have you ever wondered where the meaning of the term "atarantado" comes from, when it means "stunned, scared, confused"? ... Well, yes,
Who was the true inventor of the telephone? The controversy surrounding Graham Bell.
Today we all assume as an indisputable truth that Alexander Graham Bell was the inventor of the telephone, but
A 19th-Century Marketing Strategy: The Beautiful Collectible Cards of Liebig Meat Extract
In the mid-19th century, German chemist Justus von Liebig developed a highly nutritious meat concentrate and