December 30, 2019

Today, December 30, is José Rizal Day in the Philippines. The holiday celebrates the life of Rizal, a doctor and novelist who became a national hero of the Philippines. Rizal was an early leader of the Filipino movement for political and social freedom from Spain. December 30 marks the day in 1896 when the Spaniards, who ruled the Philippines at the time, executed Rizal for his activities.

The physician and writer José Rizal is a national hero of the Philippines. His life is celebrated on December 30. Credit: Public Domain

A national public holiday, Rizal Day has been celebrated in the Philippines since 1898. Commemorations include the lowering of the Philippine flag to half-mast and wreath laying-ceremonies at the Rizal Monument and execution site in Manila, the Rizal Monument in Baguio City, and the Rizal Shrines in Calamba (a reproduction of his birth house) and Dapitan (his place of exile on Mindanao).

The flag of the Philippines dates back to the Philippine struggle for independence in the 1890’s. Credit: © Loveshop/Shutterstock

José Mercado y Alonso Rizal was born on June 19, 1861, in Calamba on the main Filipino island of Luzon. He studied medicine at the University of Santo Tomas in Manila. After obtaining his qualifications in medicine in Madrid, Spain, Rizal traveled to Germany, England, and France, where he continued to study medicine. He wrote for La Solidaridad (The Solidarity) a magazine published in Barcelona that campaigned for reforms in the Philippines.

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Philippines
Credit: WORLD BOOK map

Rizal gained worldwide attention with two novels that exposed the ills of the Spanish colonial government and Filipino society: Noli Me Tangere (1887, Latin for Touch Me Not) and El Filibusterismo (1891, The Subversive). While conducting research at the British Museum in London, Rizal came across a history of the Philippines written by Antonio de Morga, a Spanish historian and colonial official, in 1609. Morga’s book described an attractive civilization in the Philippines before Spanish colonization. In 1890, Rizal printed a new edition of the history with his own notes added to the text.

In 1892, Rizal returned to Manila, where he founded La Liga Filipina (The Philippine League) on July 3. The League was a partly secret association devoted to promoting unity and reforming the colony. On July 6, Rizal was arrested and exiled to the Philippine island of Mindanao. During his exile, Rizal practiced medicine and taught students. In 1896, Spanish authorities permitted him to go to Cuba, at that time a Spanish colony, to treat patients infected during a yellow fever outbreak.

That same year, the Katipunan, a secret Filipino revolutionary society, tried to overthrow the Spanish government. Rizal was on his way to Cuba when the revolution broke out. Though he had no connection with the Katipunan or the uprising, a Spanish military court found him guilty of promoting the rebellion. On the morning of Dec. 30, 1896, Rizal was executed by firing squad in Manila.

November 20, 2019

Yesterday, on November 19, the Prado Museum in Madrid, Spain, marked the 200th anniversary of its founding in 1819. Originally called the Royal Museum of Paintings and Sculptures, the museum later became the Museo Nacional del Prado (National Museum of the Prado), and grew into one of the world’s most celebrated art museums. The word prado means meadow in Spanish. Both the museum and Madrid’s Paseo del Prado boulevard are built on land that was once a meadow. The museum’s exhibits of Spanish paintings include many works by El Greco and Francisco Goya. The museum also displays paintings by the Spanish painter Diego Velázquez, including his masterpiece Las Meninas.

The Prado Museum in Madrid, Spain, opened 200 years ago in November 1819. Credit: © Anibal Trejo, Shutterstock

To mark the Prado’s 200th anniversary, the museum ran a special exhibition called “A Place of Memory” in the first 10 months of 2019. The exhibition showed how the museum changed but survived the often turbulent events of Spanish history, including the fall of Spain’s colonial empire, the Spanish Civil War, the dictatorship of Francisco Franco, and the country’s ultimate transition to democracy. The traveling exhibit “De gira por España” (On Tour in Spain) took many of the Prado’s precious works to museums throughout the country as part of the bicentenary celebration in 2019. At the same time, the exhibition “El Prado en las calles” (The Prado in the Streets) displayed the museum’s works in public spaces in the Philippines and in several cities in the Americas.

Las Meninas, a portrait of the Spanish royal family by Diego Velázquez, is one of the Prado’s most famous works. The artist united real and pictorial space by having the young princess look casually out of the composition, presumably toward her parents, who stand in the same position as the viewer. The painter shown at left is Velázquez himself. Credit: The Prado, Madrid, Spain (Erich Lessing, Art Resource)

Construction on the building that houses the Prado began in 1785. It was originally a museum of natural sciences. King Ferdinand VII of Spain converted it into the Royal Museum of Paintings and Sculptures. The museum’s initial collection contained more than 300 works by Spanish artists. The museum has been known as the Prado since 1868. The Prado’s collection has grown in size and variety over time, particularly after taking in works from the closure of two other museums—the Museo de la Trinidad, in 1872, and the Museo de Arte Moderno (Museum of Modern Art), in 1971. Extensions and renovations have greatly expanded and improved the Prado Museum’s space.

The Prado’s collection centers on European masterworks of the 1500’s through the 1800’s, but it also includes many ancient and modern works. In addition to paintings, the collection includes decorative arts, drawings, photographs, prints, and sculptures, as well as a large archive and library. Together with the nearby Reina Sofía and Thyssen-Bornemisza museums, the Prado forms Madrid’s “Golden Triangle of Art.”

September 20, 2019

On Sept. 20, 1519, 500 years ago today, the Portuguese sea captain Ferdinand Magellan sailed westward from Spain with a small fleet, hoping to find an alternate sea route to the rich Spice Islands of Indonesia. Magellan reached and crossed the Pacific Ocean, but he never saw the Spice Islands—nor did he live to finish the voyage. Members of his crew, however, returned to Spain from the east, becoming the first people to circumnavigate (sail all the way around) the world. Many scholars consider the voyage the greatest navigational feat in history.

The Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan led the first expedition that sailed around the world. This engraving shows Magellan and his crew in October 1520 as they sail through the strait that separates the islands of Tierra del Fuego from mainland South America. The Strait of Magellan, as it is now called, provided a shortcut between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Credit: Discovery of The Magellan-Strait (1880), colored wood engraving by unknown artist (© SuperStock)

Magellan, an experienced seaman and soldier, studied astronomy and navigation. His studies convinced him that he could reach the Spice Islands by sailing west around the southern tip of South America. He believed such a route would be shorter than the eastward voyage around the southern tip of Africa and across the Indian Ocean. Magellan asked the king of Portugal to support the voyage, but the king refused. Like Christopher Columbus 27 years earlier, however, Magellan found a sponsor in the monarch of Spain, and he began planning the expedition.

Ferdinand Magellan died in the Philippines in 1521, but members of his crew completed the first circumnavigation of the world in 1522. Credit: Granger Collection

On Sept. 20, 1519, Magellan left Spain with about 240 men and five ships: Concepcion, San Antonio, Santiago, Trinidad, and Victoria. The fleet sailed across the Atlantic Ocean to the coast of modern day Brazil and followed the South American coast to southern Argentina. A storm destroyed Santiago, and there were problems with the sometimes mutinous crew, but Magellan discovered a passage around the tip of South America to the Pacific—a passage known ever since as the Strait of Magellan. The crew of San Antonio mutinied and returned to Spain, but the three remaining ships sailed out of the strait and into the ocean. Magellan named the ocean the Pacific, which means peaceful, because it appeared calm compared with the stormy strait.

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This map traces Magellan’s fleet as it completed the first circumnavigation of the world from 1519 to 1522. Credit: WORLD BOOK map

Sailing across the vast Pacific involved great hardship for Magellan and his crew. No Europeans had sailed across the Pacific before them. Consequently, the islands in the Pacific, where ships could resupply with food and water, were unknown. The ships sailed for 98 days without seeing any land except two uninhabited islands. Their food gave out, and their water supply became contaminated. They ate rats that infested their ships, oxhide leather, and sawdust to avoid starvation. Most of the crew suffered from scurvy, a disease caused by a lack of vitamin C in the diet. Several men died before the fleet reached Guam on March 6, 1521.

Conflicts with the people of Guam and the nearby island of Rota prevented Magellan from fully resupplying his ships. But the crew seized enough food and water to continue on to the Philippines. Magellan and his crew remained in the Philippines for several weeks, and close relations developed between them and the islanders. On April 27, 1521, however, Magellan was killed when he took part in a battle between rival Filipino groups on the island of Mactan.

With only about 110 crew members remaining, Magellan’s men abandoned Concepcion, and the two remaining vessels, Trinidad and Victoria, sailed to the Spice Islands, where they were loaded with valuable spices. The leaders of the fleet then decided that the two ships should make separate return voyages.

Trinidad sailed eastward across the Pacific to the Isthmus of Panama. Bad weather and disease disrupted the voyage, and more than half the crew died. The survivors made the terrible trip across the Pacific again, only to be detained in the Spice Islands. Victoria went the other way, continuing its westward voyage across the Indian Ocean. Victoria also experienced great hardship, and many of the crew died, but the ship finally reached Spain on Sept. 6, 1522, nearly three years after the voyage had begun. Only 18 sailors lived to complete the circumnavigation.

Magellan proved that it was possible to reach the Spice Islands by sailing westward. The discovery of the Strait of Magellan led to future European voyages across the Pacific and around the world.

September 16, 2019

Last night, on September 15, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador opened Independence Day celebrations by ringing a special bell on the balcony of the National Palace in Mexico City and giving the rallying call of the Grito de Dolores (Cry of Dolores). The president’s grito included: “¡Viva México! ¡Viva la independencia! ¡Vivan los héroes!” (Long live Mexico! Long live independence! Long live the heroes!) The cry was first given in 1810 by the Mexican priest and revolutionary Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, who rang the same bell to gather an audience before calling for rebellion against Spanish rule, triggering the Mexican War of Independence (1810-1821). The date of Hidalgo’s cry, September 16, is celebrated as Independence Day (Día de la Independencia) in Mexico.

Fireworks illuminate Mexico city on September 16, Independence Day in Mexico. Credit: © David Arciga, Shutterstock

In 1807, during the Napoleonic Wars in Europe, French forces occupied Spain and spread confusion among Spain’s American colonies. Many people in Mexico—such as Father Hidalgo—saw this as an opportunity to achieve independence from Spain, a nation that had ruled Mexico (the heart of New Spain) since the early 1500′s. After years of growing unrest, the people of the town of Dolores (now Dolores Hidalgo in Guanajuato) were called to the local church by Hidalgo’s bell in the early hours of Sept. 16, 1810. Hidalgo then gave the Cry of Dolores and began the rebellion against Spanish rule.

Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, who first gave the Cry of Dolores in 1810, is known as “The Father of Mexican Independence.” Credit: Granger Collection

Hidalgo’s untrained followers armed themselves and attacked Spanish officials and those who supported the Spaniards. At first, Hidalgo gained support for his cause. But Hidalgo was eventually forced to retreat, and Spanish troops captured and executed him in 1811. José María Morelos y Pavón, another priest, continued Hidalgo’s struggle. In 1813, Morelos held a Congress that issued the first formal call for independence. The Congress wrote a constitution for a Mexican republic. Unlike Hidalgo, Morelos used ambush tactics against small, isolated Spanish military units. His campaign was more successful than Hidalgo’s, but in 1815 he too was captured and executed.

By 1816, Spanish troops had captured or killed many of the rebels, but small guerrilla groups continued to operate in the countryside. In an effort to recover from the cost of the Napoleonic Wars, Spain’s King Ferdinand VII heavily taxed the people of Mexico. The king also organized a large army to put down the remaining revolutionary elements. However, only a small portion of the Spanish forces in Mexico remained loyal to Spain, and the army eventually joined forces with the rebels. Spanish officials withdrew from Mexico, and the nation became independent on Sept. 28, 1821.

August 8, 2018

On Aug. 8, 1588, 430 years ago today, the British Navy defeated the Spanish Armada in the Battle of Gravelines off the coast of France. The Spanish Armada was a powerful fleet of armed ships and transports that tried to invade England. The defeat at Gravelines ended Spain’s hopes of invasion. The failure of the Armada was a great blow to the prestige of Spain, then the world’s most powerful country. Spain remained a major power after the battle, but English merchants and sailors challenged the Spaniards with greater confidence throughout the world.

British warships defeated the Spanish Armada in the Battle of Gravelines 430 years ago on Aug. 8, 1588. Credit: Defeat of the Spanish Armada, 8 August 1588 (1796), oil on canvas by Philip James de Loutherbourg; National Maritime Museum

Bad feeling between Spain and England had existed since the 1560′s. Spain was taking gold and silver from lands it had claimed in the Americas, and England wanted some of this wealth. Queen Elizabeth I encouraged Francis Drake and other English seamen to raid Spanish ships and towns, even though the countries were not at war.

Religious differences also caused conflict between the two nations. Spain was a Roman Catholic country, and most of England was Protestant. In the 1560′s, the English began to aid Dutch Protestants rebelling against Spanish rule in the Netherlands. In the early 1580′s, King Philip II of Spain started planning to send a fleet and army to invade England. He hoped to negate English help for the Dutch, end the English raids on Spanish shipping, and make England a Catholic country.

Philip began to assemble the Armada in January 1586. Spain built many new warships and armed its existing ones more heavily. It also rented many foreign ships. In 1587, the British raided the important Spanish harbor of Cadiz and destroyed about 30 ships. Work continued on the Armada however, and the fleet was brought together in May 1588 at the Portuguese port of Lisbon, which at that time was ruled by Spain. The fleet had about 130 ships and more than 29,000 men, most of them soldiers. Some of the ships lacked guns and experienced gunners; others carried no weapons at all, serving only as troop and supply transports. Philip named the Duke of Medina Sidonia to command the Spanish Armada. The duke was an experienced military planner but an inexperienced seaman.

As Spain planned for invasion, England prepared to defeat the Armada at sea. The British Navy armed many merchant vessels and added them to its fleet of warships. They gathered some 200 ships and nearly 16,000 men, most of them sailors rather than soldiers. Admiral Lord Howard of Effingham commanded the fleet, and his squadron leaders included the notable sailors Drake, John Hawkins, and Martin Frobisher.

The Armada left Lisbon on May 30, 1588. It entered the English Channel on July 30 and fought long-range gun duels with English warships during the next few days. On August 6, the Armada anchored at Calais, France. Medina Sidonia had planned to meet barges carrying Spanish troops from nearby Dunkerque, a port then in the Netherlands. But Dutch gunboats prevented the barges from meeting the Armada. This act doomed the Armada to failure.

In the early hours of August 8, the English sent eight fire ships (vessels filled with gunpowder and set on fire) toward the Armada. The Spanish ships sailed out to sea to escape the flames. Later that morning, about 60 English ships attacked an equal number of Spanish ships off the French port of Gravelines. The English sank several Spanish ships and damaged others.

The crippled Armada fled to the North Sea. It returned to Spain by sailing north around the islands of Great Britain and Ireland. High winds wrecked many ships off Ireland’s coast, and only about two-thirds of the fleet safely returned to Spain.

June 12, 2018

Today, June 12, is Independence Day in the Philippines. On June 12, 1898, 120 years ago today, Filipino leaders declared independence from Spain, which had ruled the Pacific Island nation since the 1500′s. Philippines Independence Day is celebrated throughout the Philippine Islands as well in Filipino communities around the world. For several years, the celebration was held on July 4—the day the Republic of the Philippines actually gained independence in 1946. In 1962, however, the Philippines government recognized the date of the 1898 declaration as Independence Day, and changed July 4 to Republic Day.

The flag of the Philippines dates back to the nation’s struggle for independence in the 1890’s. Credit: © Loveshop/Shutterstock

In the Philippines, government offices and many businesses are closed for Independence Day, and people enjoy the holiday by gathering with family and friends and attending concerts, fireworks shows, and parades. The Philippines flag is prominently displayed throughout the nation, and in Manila and other cities there are official readings of the 1898 document declaring Philippine independence. Readings are given both in the document’s original Spanish and in Tagalog, the primary language of the Philippines.

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In Tagalog, the primary language of the Philippines, Independence Day is known as Araw ng Kalayaan, or Day of Freedom. Credit: Republic of the Philippines

In the United States and Canada, countries that are home to millions of people of Filipino heritage, Philippines Independence Day is marked by celebrations and parades in such cities as Boston, Chicago, New York, San Francisco, Toronto, and Vancouver.

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Philippines
Credit: WORLD BOOK map

The story of Philippine independence is a complicated one. The 1898 declaration came at a chaotic period in Filipino history, a time when foreign powers—Spain and the United States—were fighting for control of the Philippine Islands. Philippines independence was not won in 1898, as the United States, which gained control of the islands from Spain, refused to recognize it.

Filipino rebels fought against U.S. rule in the Philippine-American War from 1899 to 1902, but American influence remained in the Philippines for many years. In 1935, the Philippines became an American commonwealth with its own elected government and constitution. The United States retained authority in such areas as foreign affairs and defense. After Filipinos and U.S. soldiers fought together against the Japanese during World War II (1939-1945), the Philippines at last gained complete independence on July 4, 1946—a date chosen to coincide with Independence Day in the United States.

May 17, 2018

On Tuesday, May 15, one of the world’s most beautiful and historic diamonds, the Farnese Blue, sold at auction in Switzerland for $6.7 million. The Farnese Blue is not the most expensive diamond on the planet—that honor currently goes to the $57.5-million Oppenheimer Blue, the world’s largest blue diamond. But $6.7 million is still a lot for a single gem, and the 6.16-carat pear-shaped Farnese Blue has had a fascinating journey that goes right along with the history books.

A silver marker is included in the box with the Farnese Blue diamond. In French, it reads: “Remarkable blue brilliant. This historical stone was offered by the Philippine Islands to Elisabeth Farnese, Queen of Spain, wife of Philippe V, great grandfather of the Comte de Villafranca, current owner of that stone.” Credit: © Sothebys

Tuesday’s auction at Sotheby’s in Geneva was the first public sale of the Farnese Blue, which had remained in the same family for centuries. Part of a bank-busting sale collection called “Magnificent Jewels and Noble Jewels,” the Farnese Blue was purchased by an unnamed private collector. Like many other famous diamonds, the Farnese Blue came from the historic Golconda mines of southern India.

Historically, the Farnese Blue can be traced back to Elisabeth Farnese, the queen of Spain from 1714 to 1746. At the time of her marriage to King Philip V in 1714, the Spanish monarchy was reeling from years of fighting in the War of the Spanish Succession. Badly in debt, the king appealed to Spain’s colonies around the world to provide wedding gifts for his new bride. Eventually, an enormous amount of gold and gems was loaded onto 12 ships, a so-called “Golden Fleet” that set sail from Cuba in August 1715, bound for Spain. Not long after leaving port, however, a hurricane destroyed all but one ship of the Golden Fleet—a ship carrying treasures, the Blue Farnese among them, collected by the governor of the Philippines, a Spanish colony at the time. Queen Elisabeth (and no doubt a frustrated King Philip) missed out on the bulk of the expensive gifts, but she had a shiny new blue diamond.

The Farnese Blue then passed down through Philippe, a younger son of Elisabeth and Philip who became the duke of Parma, Elisabeth’s hometown in Italy. The stone then went to Philippe’s son Ferdinand, the second duke of Parma. Ferdinand’s son Louis got the diamond before his brief reign as king of Etruria (present-day Tuscany, Umbria, and Latium) during the tumultuous years of the Napoleonic Wars (1796-1815). Louis’s son Charles, who after a roundabout path ended up as the Comte de Villafranca, left the Farnese Blue to his grandson, Robert, the last duke of Parma.

After the Risorgimento (the unification of Italy in the 1860′s), Robert lived with other deposed Italian dukes in neighboring Austria-Hungary, which was then ruled by Robert’s cousin, the Habsburg Emperor Franz Joseph. Robert’s son, Prince Elie, included the diamond in the wedding presents to his wife Maria Anna in 1903. The Austro-Hungarian Monarchy fell at the end of World War I (1914-1918), and with it went the royal status of the House of Habsburg. Maria Anna kept the Farnese Blue in the now private family, however, and the diamond passed down through successive generations until its eventual sale this week.

February 26, 2018

Spanish (español) is by some estimates the second most spoken language in the world, after Mandarin Chinese. More than 400 million people speak Spanish as their native tongue. Adding people who speak Spanish as a second language and those with partial fluency, the number nears 500 million. Spanish is the official language of Spain and most countries of Latin America. Spanish is also an official language in western Africa’s Equatorial Guinea and in the United States commonwealth of Puerto Rico. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, about 40 million U.S. residents spoke Spanish in 2016. Spanish is also an official language of the United Nations. Spanish has a rich literary heritage of celebrated drama, poetry, and prose. The Nobel Prize in literature has been given to 11 writers from Spanish-speaking countries since the prize first was awarded in 1901.

The Spanish language originated in Spain (the Spanish flag is seen here) and is the official language of numerous countries around the world. Credit: © Loveshop/Shutterstock

The Spanish spoken in Spain often is called Castilian Spanish (Castellano), after the historical kingdom of Castile. The Spanish of Latin America is known as American Spanish (español americano). Castilian and American Spanish are basically the same but differ in some vocabulary and pronunciation. Variations in the language also exist between different countries and regions of Latin America. For example, the writing instrument pen is bolígrafo or pluma in Spain, but it can be lápiz pasta in Chile, birome in Paraguay, and lapicera in Argentina. Yet no one will be confused if you ask to borrow a bolígrafo in Colombia or Peru.

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Languages of the New World, including Spanish, are a result of colonial settlement by European nations. This map shows colonial territories of Latin America around 1790. Credit: WORLD BOOK map

As a language, Spanish is extremely phonetic, meaning that its pronunciation closely follows its spelling. It has only five basic vowel sounds, represented by the letters a, e, i or y, o, and u. Overall, the alphabet has 27 letters. Before 2010, there were 29, but the Royal Spanish Academy in Madrid declared two letters, ch and ll, non-letters that year. The decision caused some controversy throughout the Spanish-speaking world.

Spanish is part of the Indo-European language family—that is, a group of languages descended from a common proto- or parent language. The Indo-European family is the most prominent language family. It includes many of the languages of Europe, as well as languages of India. Within the Indo-European family, Spanish is a Romance language, along with French, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, and several others. Such languages developed from the Latin language of the ancient Romans. Spanish and other Romance languages developed from the vulgar or vernacular form of Latin spoken by the common people.

During the 200’s and 100’s B.C., Romans conquered the Iberian Peninsula, home to modern-day Spain and Portugal. The Iberian people gradually adopted the Latin language. In A.D. 711, Arabic-speaking Muslims from northwestern Africa conquered most of Iberia. They ruled the region until the mid-1200’s. About 700 Arabic words were added to vulgar Latin, but the overall language changed little. Spanish began to emerge as an independent language during the period from 950 to 1000. It developed several dialects (related varieties). Castile gained significance in the 1200’s, and the Castilian dialect became the accepted form of Spanish in most of the region. Another dialect, Galician-Portuguese, became the basis of the Portuguese language. The Catalan dialect grew into the modern Catalan language of northeastern Spain.

July 26, 2017

Eighty years ago today, German photographer Gerda Taro was killed covering the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939). Taro, a close friend and colleague of famed photographer Robert Capa, was the first woman war correspondent killed on assignment. She died during the Battle of Brunete on July 26, 1937, just a few days before her 27^th birthday.

Gerda Taro and Robert Capa laugh over a drink in 1936. Eighty years ago today, on July 26, 1937, Taro was killed covering the Spanish Civil War. Credit: © Fred Stein Archive/Getty Images

Taro was born Gerta Pohorylle on Aug. 1, 1910, into a Polish-Jewish family in Stuttgart, Germany. In 1933, she fled Germany to escape the anti-Semitism of the Nazis, who had recently come to power with Adolf Hitler. Pohorylle settled in Paris, France, where she befriended Capa, himself a Jewish immigrant who had fled persecution in Hungary. Capa, then known as André Friedmann, had just begun his career as a news photographer. He taught Pohorylle all he knew, and the two soon became a team covering assignments together. Soon after they began collaborating, they changed their names to increase their individual marketability.

In 1936, Taro and Capa went to Spain to cover the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War. The pair traveled with the government’s liberal Republican forces (they were fighting against fascist Nationalist rebels), and they covered numerous battles. Often working at or near the front lines, Taro and Capa were in near-constant danger. Taro became known for her daring behavior, often risking her life for a good photograph. She believed passionately in the fight against fascism; she felt that meaningful photographs would gain more worldwide support for the Spanish Republican cause.

In July 1937, Capa returned to Paris to develop and sell their photographs. At the same time, Republican and Nationalist forces were engaged in a bloody battle for the town of Brunete just west of Madrid, the Spanish capital. Taro, working with Canadian photographer Ted Allan while Capa was away, took numerous photos during the fighting at Brunete. On July 25, she and Allan jumped on the running boards of a car carrying wounded soldiers away from the front. The car collided with an out-of-control Republican tank, and both Taro and Allan were severely injured. Allan survived his wounds, but Taro died the next morning.

Thousands of people attended Taro’s funeral in Paris, including a distraught and grief-stricken Robert Capa. Taro was eulogized in the press, and she became a heroine of liberal causes in both France and Spain. World events soon eclipsed Taro’s fame, however, as the fascist Nationalists won the Spanish Civil War in April 1939—with much help from Nazi Germany, a nation whose attack on Poland started World War II a few months later. Capa’s fame greatly increased during World War II as he photographed the fighting in China and then in North Africa and Europe. Capa too was killed on assignment while covering the Indochina War in 1954.

July 6, 2017

At noon today, July 6, fireworks, wild cheers, and singing will announce the beginning of the raucous San Fermín Festival at the Plaza Consistorial in the northern Spanish town of Pamplona (also called Iruña). The annual nine-day fiesta is known for its bullfights, its signature red-and-white outfits, and its rowdy celebrations. It is most famous, however, for the morning bull runs through the city streets—events collectively called the “Running of the Bulls,” or El Encierro in Spanish.

People run from the bulls during the San Fermín Festival in Pamplona, Spain, on July 14, 2013. Credit: © Migel/Shutterstock

The first bull run begins tomorrow morning at eight o’clock. At that time, rockets will signal the opening of a bull pen gate in Pamplona’s old quarter. The six bulls scheduled for that day’s fights (and a handful of steers or oxen) then spill out of the pen and into the streets. Driven from behind, the bulls meet crowds of people on the fenced-off course, and the 930-yard (850-meter) race to the plaza de toros (bullring) is on. In just a few breathtaking minutes, the bulls rumble through the streets as people sprint and dodge and duck and tumble to get out of the way. The barricaded and walled paths quickly funnel the bulls through the entrance to the bullring, where the bulls are eventually guided into waiting pens. The event is repeated each day until the festival’s end on July 14.

Pamplona, host of the famous San Fermín Festival, lies in far northern Spain near the French border. Credit: WORLD BOOK map

Many more people watch the spectacle from balconies and barricades than actually participate in the running of the bulls, which is highly dangerous. Runners risk being trampled or gored, and the bulls may fall down or become injured. Some animal rights organizations oppose this tradition, as well as the bullfights themselves. The festival and running of the bulls remain popular, however, and attract people from all over the world.

The running of the bulls, or el encierro, precedes bullfights later in the day. In this photograph, matadors and their assistants enter a bullring before a bullfight. Credit: © Alamy Images

Spanish celebrations involving bull-running or bullfighting date back to at least the 1000’s. Pamplona’s Fiesta de San Fermín has included such activities since 1591. The festival honors San Fermín, the patron saint of Pamplona and of Spain’s northern Navarre (Navarra) region. In addition to bull-running and bullfighting, the festival’s activities include dancing, fireworks, music concerts, and parades. Pamplona’s encierros and corridas (bullfights) enthralled American writer Ernest Hemingway, who first came to the San Fermín Festival in the early 1920’s. His novel The Sun Also Rises—which takes place partly in Pamplona—made the festival and its running of the bulls world famous.