The construction of the locks began with the first concrete laid at Gatun, on August 24, 1909, by the Philadelphia-based company Day & Zimmermann. The Gatun locks are built into a cut made in a hill bordering the lake, which required the excavation of 3,800,000 cubic metres of material, mostly Continue Reading
The Battle of the River Plate took place on December 13th 1939. The battle in the South Atlantic was the first major naval battle of World War Two. Ships from the Royal Navy’s South American Division took on the might of Germany’s Graf Spee which was successfully attacking merchant shipping Continue Reading
After the death of King Manuel I in late 1521, his son and successor, King John III of Portugal set about reviewing the Portuguese government overseas. Vasco da Gama re-emerged from his political wilderness as an important adviser to the new king’s appointments and strategy. Seeing the new Spanish threat Continue Reading
