Historical Drops # 44: Your weekly dose of History here at Mega

Have you ever wondered how historical events go from generation to generation and how names are chosen to be recorded in journals, memoirs, and documents that make them eternal in history books?

Some of them have complicated details and even more complex names, while others seem to have been uniquely named to arouse humanity's comic vein. One must, however, set the mood aside when thinking about cases like the Worms Diet, a fact that opens today's Historical Drops column. As much as worms in English means “worm, ” the term “diet” here refers to something else - not a eating routine.

On the other hand, we close column number 44 with the Battle of Diu - which is not an Intrauterine War either! Yeah! What's informative about history can also be fun, with possible puns and unintentional jokes. Come and have fun with us as you discover what was happening today in the world, some year, somewhere.

January 28th

1521: Worms Diet

Photo: Reproduction of the work of German painter Martin Disteli depicting the Worms Diet / Public Domain

No, it's not a worm-based diet. Diet, in this case, refers to a kind of assembly that was held in the city of Worms, in the region where Germany is. It was a large meeting where community leaders and leaders met to discuss political and religious matters. There was issued a decree dedicated to deliberating on the ideas of Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation, which was under discussion in Europe at the time.

The deliberation was one of the most important of the period, which began on January 28 and concluded only on May 26, with the presence of Emperor Charles V.

For challenging the Pope's authority and being considered a direct threat to the Catholic Church, Luther was condemned as a threat to the Holy Roman Empire.

January 29th

1916: Paris is bombarded by German zeppelins

Photo: Willy John Abbot / Public Domain

When 1916 arrived, France was involved in World War I to the last hair. The country had entered the conflict two years earlier, in August 1914, and the people were exhausted - of strength, resources, and morale. By this time in the championship, the cost of living had grown so much, a large male contingent had already lost their lives in the war, and the nation's capital was already struggling to keep its structures working properly.

And it was that year that Parisians watched in shock at the first bombings from a German Zepelin. In the commune of Belleville, 32 people were injured and 26 died. After that, Germany only attacked the capital directly in 1918, the year the war ended.

January 30

1948: Mahatma Gandhi is assassinated

Photo: Reproduction Gandhiserve / Public Domain

A lifetime dedicated to nonviolence, and ironically it was for her that Mahatma Gandhi lost her life at age 78. A strong advocate of peaceful forms of protest, Gandhi is recognized as the founder of the Indian state as it is today. On January 30, 1948, Gandhi was shot dead in New Delhi's capital by a radical Hindu named Nathuram Godse. The man blamed Gandhi for weakening the government during an ongoing conflict with Pakistan.

Gandhi passed away, but not without first asking that his aggressor not be punished with violence. Despite this, the authorities held a trial and, convicted, Godse was hanged.

January 31st

1542: Discovery of Iguazu Falls

Enaldo Valadares / Wikimedia Commons

Imagine walking through lands totally unexplored by your country on a new continent and bumping into a gigantic wonder of nature?

In January 1542, this was the Spanish explorer Dom Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca, considered one of the most important of the time and the first European to glimpse the waterfalls we now call the Iguazu Falls.

Having already worked in different roles in the regions that today belong to Brazil and Argentina, Cabeza de Vaca was sent on his second mission to promote the evangelization of indigenous peoples; in one of his ways he visualized the falls.

February 1st

1814: Mayon Volcano Eruption, Philippines

Photo: 1984 eruption of the Mayon volcano in the Philippines and recorded by photographer CG Newhall.

Near the town of Legazpi, in the province of Albay, is the most active volcano in the Philippines, which was last active only a short time ago in 2018. But this eruption was by no means the most devastating in Mayon.

This title still belongs to the one that occurred on February 1, 1814, more than 2 centuries ago, when the gigantic lava flows that flowed from the Mayon are believed to have engulfed an entire city (Cagsawa), taking with it 1, 200 people and leaving behind only the local church steeple.

February 2 nd

1886: First Groundhog Day

Photo: Play Groundhog.org

If you go to groundhog.org, you will come across a large countdown indicating how many days are left until Groundhog Day 2019, when the city of Punxsutawney will celebrate for the 132nd time a tradition begun on February 2, 1887.

The bizarre custom implies trying to find out by observing a groundhog whether the winter will be long or not. For this, people watch the groundhog's lair. If she leaves the den, he should be done early. Otherwise, the groundhog is indicating that it should last another 6 weeks.

It all started back in 1886, when the people of Punxsutawney began observing the groundhog for whatever reasons - although it is suspected that the custom has something to do with a Christian tradition in which the faithful went out on the streets carrying candles and, if the weather was bad, the event was all badly damaged.

February 3rd

1509: Battle of Diu

This is yet another event that probably doesn't mean the first thing that comes to mind when you read the name.

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

One day, shortly after the Portuguese discovered Brazil, our colonizing dudes were at war with the Turks and the Mamluk, who in 1508 occupied a Portuguese island called Diu Island.

When the Moors carried out a massacre known as the Battle of Chaul, the Portuguese resolved to counterattack, and a conflict unfolded for months between the peoples.

On February 3, 1509, D. Francisco de Almeida launched a retaliatory attack on Diu Island, bombing enemy forces in what is considered one of the most important battles in the country's nautical history.