That most delicious of desserts that we all crave. It was rightly named as “food of the gods” by the ancients. However, the chocolate the pre-Olmec cultures were making was nothing like the chocolate we eat today. It was consumed as a beverage, and was quite bitter. The peoples making this drink were living in […]
Category: Central America
Treaty of Tordesillas
Americas, Central America, ER, Portugal, South America, Southern Europe, Spain
So if you watched the US presidential debate last night, you would have heard one of the candidates make mention that the Iran arms deal is the “worst in history”. This got me thinking. No matter what your political persuasion, I think we can all agree this is hyperbole. All of history is a very, […]
Gregor MacGregor- Prince of Frauds
Central America, England, ER, Northern Europe, Scotland
If you are like me, your world geography is a bit fuzzy. This is not a new thing, and was probably worse in the past when new lands were being discovered by Europeans, renamed and divvied up. They also didn’t have handy Professor Google to teach them where things were. Maps were a sketchy business. […]
Manco Inca Yupanqui
Americas, Central America, ER, Northern Europe, South America, Spain
The Inca had a great empire in what is now Peru, parts of Ecuador, western and south central Bolivia, northwest Argentina, north and Chile and a small part of southern Colombia. They were the Roman Empires of the Americas. However, they when the Spanish explorers first encountered them the Inca were coming off a debilitating […]
The Darien Scheme
Americas, Central America, ER, Northern Europe, Scotland
Scottish settlement in America brings to mind Nova Scotia or any of the original thirteen colonies. There was one Scottish settlement which is much less known, but is just as important if not more so. Since the crowns of England and Scotland had been united under James I, the fortunes of the two countries were […]