The Siege of Algeciras began on this date in 1342 and lasted almost two years. The port of Algeciras is the monster port and harbor located down next door to the city of Gibraltar. Then as now, it was a key port. It was part of "Moorish Spain", which was not monolithic. The Umayyad Caliphate conquered Visigothic Spain starting in 711. Eventually, a chunk of the southern coast, up to and including Algeciras became the Emirate of Grenada. In 1329 it was conquered by and became part of the Marinid Sultanate out of Morocco. In retrospect this was probably a dumb move because it weakened both the Sultanate and Grenada during the early days of the Spanish Reconquista. Grenada did send troops to help during the siege, which was undertaken by forces of the Kingdoms of Castile and Aragon, as well as the Republic of Genoa. Needless to say, the "Spanish" prevailed, as they did throughout "Spain". (And here you probably thought that Spain was a thing.). The Reconquista, fwiw, is traditionally deemed to have ended in January 1492 when the united kingdoms of Aragon (Ferdinand) and Castile (Isabella) finally whupped Grenada (and segue into Christoforo Colombo or whoever he was sailing on this date for mostly Isabella from Palos de Frontera). It is some sort of mileage marker of historical waypoint that this was the first known use of gunpowder in a military conflict in Europe.

Just as a sidenote, Catalonia (and Barcelona) were not part of Castille or "Spain" at this time, FWIW. Catalonia was involuntarily included in Spain in 1716 after supporting the wrong side in the War of Spanish Succession.

On this day in history:

1342 – The Siege of Algeciras began; the first use of gunpowder in combat in Europe

1492 – Christopher Columbus set sail from Palos de la Frontera, Spain.

1527 – The first known letter from North America was sent

1678 – Robert LaSalle built Le Griffon, the first known ship built on the Great Lakes.

1778 – Milan's La Scala theater was inaugurated

1795 – Treaty of Greenville was signed, ending the Northwest Indian War in the Ohio Country.

1829 – The Treaty of Lewistown was signed by the Shawnee and Seneca peoples, exchanging their land in Ohio for land west of the Mississippi River.

1859 – The American Dental Association was founded

1921 – Baseball Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis confirmed the ban of eight Chicago Black Sox players

1936 – Jesse Owens won the 100 meter dash at the Berlin Olympics.

1948 – Whittaker Chambers accused Alger Hiss of being a communist and a spy for the Soviet Union.

1958 – The USS Nautilus became the first vessel to complete a submerged transit of the geographical North Pole.

1972 – The United States Senate ratified the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty. The US appears to have actually followed this treaty for almost 11 whole years. Amazing.

1977 – Tandy Corporation announced the TRS-80

2007 – Former Deputy Director of the Chilean secret police Raúl Iturriaga was captured

Some people who were born on this day:

I furnished the body that was needed to sit in the defendant's chair.

~~ John Thomas Scopes

1811 – Elisha Otis, businessman
1900 – Ernie Pyle, soldier and journalist
1900 – John T. Scopes, educator
1904 – Clifford D. Simak, journalist and author
1907 – Lawrence Brown, trombonist and composer
1909 – Walter Van Tilburg Clark, author and educator
1917 – Les Elgart, A trumpet player and bandleader
1918 – Eddie Jefferson, singer and songwriter
1920 – P. D. James, author
1920 – Charlie Shavers, trumpet player and composer
1924 – Connie Converse, musician, singer, and songwriter
1924 – Leon Uris, Asoldier and author
1926 – Tony Bennett, singer and actor
1934 – Michael Chapman, bassoon player
1934 – Jonas Savimbi, founded UNITA
1935 – Vic Vogel, pianist, composer, and bandleader
1939 – Jimmie Nicol, English drummer
1940 – James Tyler, guitarist and songwriter

1941 – Beverly Lee, singer
1944 – Nino Bravo, singer
1946 – Syreeta Wright, singer and songwriter
1946 – John York, bass player, songwriter, and producer
1949 – B. B. Dickerson, bass player and songwriter
1953 – Ian Bairnson, saxophonist and keyboard player
1953 – Marlene Dumas, painter
1956 – Kirk Brandon, singer, songwriter, and guitarist
1956 – Dave Cloud, singer, songwriter ,and actor
1959 – Martin Atkins, drummer and producer
1961 – Lee Rocker, bassist
1963 – Tasmin Archer, pop singer
1963 – James Hetfield, singer, songwriter, and guitarist
1963 – Ed Roland, singer, songwriter, guitarist, and producer
1964 – Lucky Dube, singer and keyboard player
1966 – Gizz Butt, singer, songwriter, and guitarist
1967 – Skin, singer and guitarist
1970 – Stephen Carpenter, guitarist and songwriter
1970 – Gina G, singer and songwriter
1984 – Chris Maurer, singer and bass player
1985 – Brent Kutzle, bass player and producer

Some people who died on this day:

Take away the right to say ‘fuck’ and you take away the right to say ‘fuck the government.

~~ Lenny Bruce

1780 – Étienne Bonnot de Condillac, epistemiologist and philosopher
1879 – Joseph Severn, painter
1894 – George Inness, painter
1916 – Roger Casement, poet and activist
1917 – Ferdinand Georg Frobenius, mathematician and academic
1924 – Joseph Conrad, novelist
1929 – Emile Berliner, inventor and businessman, invented the phonograph
1929 – Thorstein Veblen, economist and sociologist
1936 – Konstantin Konik, surgeon and politician,
1942 – Richard Willstätter, organic chemist and academic
1954 – Colette, novelist and journalist
1961 – Hilda Rix Nicholas, artist
1964 – Flannery O'Connor, short story writer and novelist
1966 – Lenny Bruce, comedian, actor, and screenwriter
2003 – Roger Voudouris, singer, songwriter, and guitarist
2004 – Henri Cartier-Bresson, photographer and painter
2006 – Arthur Lee, singer, songwriter, guitarist, and producer
2008 – Erik Darling, singer and songwriter
2008 – Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, novelist, dramatist and historian
2010 – Bobby Hebb, singer and songwriter
2014 – Kenny Drew, Jr., pianist and composer
2015 – Margot Loyola, singer, songwriter, and guitarist

Some Holidays, Holy Days, Festivals, Feast Days, Days of Recognition, and such:

Grab Some Nuts Day
International Beer Day
Assistance Dog Day
National Watermelon Day
Clean Your Floors Day (Once a year? Really?)

Today's Tunes

Elisha Otis

Lawrence Brown

Les Elgart

Eddie Jefferson

Charlie Shavers

Tony Bennett

Michael Chapman

Vic Vogel

Jimmie Nicol

Beverly Lee

Syreeta Wright

Arthur Lee

Erik Darling

Bobby Hebb

Kenny Drew, Jr.

Ok, it's an open thread, so it's up to you folks now. What's on your mind?

Cross posted from http://caucus99percent.com

open thread, Grab Some Nuts, Algeciras, Elisha Otis, Lawrence Brown, Les Elgart, Tony Bennett, JImmie Nicol, Beverly Lee, Erik Darling, Bobby Hebb