This Day in History July 20, 1985

Did you know that real buried treasure was discovered on this date in 1985?  That's right.  Just ask Mel Fisher.  Here is the story of a real-life treasure discovery.

On September 4, 1622, 28 ships left Havana headed for Spain.  These ships were loaded with treasures being carried to the great Spanish empire.  The next day, there was a hurricane in their path.  And then on by September 6, eight of these ships lay at the bottom of the sea.  The Atocha was one of these.

In 1969, Mel Fisher and his crew began to search for the treasures of the Atocha.  They knew they were getting close when the hull of the ship was discovered in May of 1980.  However, it was not until this date in 1985 that the wealth of the ship was finally uncovered.

At this point, only half of the treasure has been found.  It was located in an area just 40 miles from Key West.  Forty tons of treasure were unearthed estimated at $400 million.

For more information:
http://www.internetstones.com/image-files/mel-fisher-atocha-gold-chain.jpg
http://www.newworldtreasures.com/atochastory.htm
http://www.atocha.com/atocha_history.php
http://famousdaily.com/history/treasure-hunters-discover-atocha.html

This Day in History March 31, 1492

If you are like me, you know about Queen Isabella mainly because she and King Ferdinand financed Christopher Columbus's journey to the New World in 1492.  That is one of those stories that most of us know.  However, you may not know about something that happened on this date in 1492 that does not seem quite so nice.

During this time period, Spain was quite diverse.  It consisted of Christians, Jews, and Muslims.  Some Jews converted to Christianity to avoid persecution.  As you might imagine, these "converted" Jews often still practiced Judaism in secret.  It was important to the monarchy to be unified, and so Catholicism became the only acceptable religion.  The Inquisition was one way this was enforced.

On this date in 1492, the Alhambra Decree was enacted.  This called for the expulsion of Jews from Spain, and 200,000 ultimately did leave.  This decree stated that these Jews had to leave by the end of July or face death and the confiscation of all their property.  Many Jews died as they attempted to leave often at the hands of Spanish ship captains who charged exorbitant sums, threw the Jews overboard, and knifed them to death due to rumors of Jews swallowing gold and diamonds.

Honestly, this is the first time I have ever heard about this horrible decree.  I have often heard about how Jews have been persecuted throughout the centuries, but somehow this story never reached my ears.  I wonder why it is that we generally only teach about this Spanish king and queen in light of Columbus but fail to mention what else they did that very same year.

For more information, please check out:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isabella_I_of_Castile#Events_of_1492
http://www.findingdulcinea.com/news/on-this-day/March/Jews-Banished-From-Spain-During-Spanish-Inquisition.html
http://www.queenisabel.org/RelatedResources/IsabelJews.html
http://queenisabella.org/