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Lope Martín (marooned 21 July 1566) was an Afro-Portuguese maritime pilot. Martín was a free mulatto from Lagos, Portugal, who became a licensed pilot in Spain. He was contracted for Miguel López de Legazpi's expedition from Mexico to the Philippines and was the pilot of a patache called the San Lucas. Martín and the San Lucas separated from the rest of the fleet and sailed through the Marshall Islands and the Caroline Islands before arriving at the Philippines. Without the rest of the fleet, Martín then embarked upon the return voyage from Asia to the Americas and arrived in Mexico. The Real Audiencia of Mexico ordered him to return to the Philippines and appear before Legazpi, who was expected to execute him for having deserted the rest of his fleet. Martín's ship, the San Jerónimo, departed Mexico and Martín led mutinies and took command of the ship. He anchored the San Jerónimo at Ujelang Atoll (pictured) in July 1566, where Martín and 26 other men were left behind and never seen again. (Full article...)
Did you know ...
- ... that Niu Yu (pictured), who lost her right leg after surviving an earthquake, walked the runway at a fashion show with a prosthetic leg?
- ... that the murder of a taxi driver in Bangkok at the hands of a teenage gamer led to the Thai government banning the sale of Grand Theft Auto?
- ... that the Grand Ducal Palace of Luxembourg has its origins in a gunpowder explosion?
- ... that George W. Grace described living languages as existing on a continuum between "bird languages" and "crocodilian languages"?
- ... that a Bahamian cable company was once accused of raising prices to buy two companies in Florida?
- ... that the Rialto Holocaust writing assignment told roughly 2,000 eighth-graders to debate whether the Holocaust happened, and at least 50 denied or doubted that it occurred?
- ... that 66 Scenes from America features over four minutes of Andy Warhol eating a hamburger in near silence?
- ... that Stephanie of Milly reportedly sent food to Saladin as he bombarded her castle during her son's wedding?
- ... that so much fake inventory was declared during the salad oil scandal that one storage facility claimed to store more salad oil than existed in the entire United States?
In the news
- Andy Burnham (pictured) succeeds Keir Starmer as Leader of the Labour Party and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom following a leadership election.
- In association football, the FIFA World Cup concludes with Spain defeating Argentina in the final.
- British runner Josh Kerr breaks the world record for the mile run.
- Barbadian cricketer Garfield Sobers dies at the age of 89.
- A new species of black-and-white colobus monkey, likweli, is discovered in Lomami National Park, Democratic Republic of Congo.
On this day
July 21: Belgian National Day (1831)
- 625 – Paulinus was consecrated as the first bishop of York by Justus, the archbishop of Canterbury.
- 1925 – American high-school biology teacher John T. Scopes was found guilty of violating Tennessee's Butler Act which forbade teaching evolution in class.
- 1946 – After weeks of unrest, rioters lynched Bolivian president Gualberto Villarroel, desecrating and hanging his corpse in the streets of La Paz.
- 1972 – The Troubles: The Provisional Irish Republican Army detonated twenty-two bombs throughout Belfast, Northern Ireland.
- 2019 – People returning from anti–extradition bill protests in Hong Kong were attacked (pictured) by suspected triad members in Yuen Long, leaving 45 people injured.
- George Brian Sinclair (b. 1928)
- Claus von Stauffenberg (d. 1944)
- Charlotte Gainsbourg (b. 1971)
- Endrick (b. 2006)
Today's featured pictures
The black-faced blenny (Tripterygion delaisi) is a species of fish in the family Tripterygiidae, the threefin blennies. It is found in the Mediterranean Sea and adjacent Atlantic Ocean coasts, at depths from 3 to 40 metres (10 to 130 ft), and prefers shaded areas such as rock faces and crevices. During the breeding season, territorial males develop a characteristic yellow body with a black head, while females and other males are coloured grey-brown for camouflage. The black-faced blenny produces a red fluorescent signal using specialised cells in the iris, which it can regulate in brightness. Males defend nesting territories beneath overhangs, aggressively repelling intruders and defending the eggs from predators until they hatch. These black-faced blennies, one female and the other a territorial male, were photographed in Arrábida Natural Park, off the Portuguese coast. Photograph credit: Diego Delso
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