If you’ve ever seen this day marked on your desktop calendars and wondered what it was, think La Niña (née La Santa Clara), La Pinta, and La Santa María. On October 12, 1492, Christopher Columbus landed in the modern-day Commonwealth of the Bahamas. Although Columbus Day was formally recognized here in the United States on …
In a recent pic of the week we featured a group shot of the 18th Annual Global Legal Information Network (GLIN) Directors’ Meeting. Today, I’d like to share some of the highlights of the event. During the two-day meeting, which took place at the Library of Congress in the Lawrence Quincy Mumford Room, representatives from …
Yesterday, July 24, 2011, marked the 100th anniversary of the announcement to the world of the existence of the 15th-century Incan city, Machu Picchu, by Hiram Bingham III (1875-1956). Not surprisingly, Machu Picchu has become a fascinating point of interest to tourists, students, archaeologists, anthropologists, and other scholars of the humanities (we know that at …
It has been said that “he who controls the definition controls the argument.” It is perhaps for that reason that we strive to find authoritative sources that provide the definitive meaning of a word. In the realm of the Spanish language, it is an accepted practice to consult the Diccionario de la Real Academia Española …
No, May 5th is not Mexican Independence Day. Mexico’s independence is celebrated on September 16th and shouldn’t be confused with the holiday of May 5th. The celebration of “Cinco de Mayo” commemorates the “Battle of Puebla” (May 5, 1862). In this battle, Mexican forces led by Ignacio Zaragoza Seguín (from what is now the city …
As a Mexican-born American, I’m always looking for occasions to celebrate. I guess this festive nature is simply dyed-in-the-wool (or dyed-in-the-cotton, if you’re Southern-raised, as I am). With that in mind, I wanted to write a bit about the Mexican Constitution – especially since two related holidays take place in the month of February: Mexican …