More articles about: history

History has many moments that continue to puzzle people, one being the establishment of penal colonies. The practice of exiling prisoners and placing them somewhere far away was all the rage back then. It was recorded as early as the 17th century in China, and ...

Jacob Smith “is a small man, rather slim, and is very bald. He is a neat dresser and in his citizens clothes did not look like the fierce soldier who had carried terror to the hearts of the most savage tribes in ...

The largest remaining Spanish-era artifact in the Philippines (and possibly, the world) isn't a church or a school. It's the El Deposito water reservoir, the 150-meter-long waterway system that played an important role in San Juan's hygiene and the country's history. Though currently ...

Graciano Lopez Jaena was a towering figure in Philippine history, considered as one of the three giants of the Propaganda Movement, along with Jose Rizal and Marcelo Del Pilar. Yet for such an important man, his remains are lost. The government has ...

There is alternative medicine and then there is medical fraud—“psychic surgery” falls in the latter category. Despite being debunked and rejected by almost every credible medical association and certified doctor, psychic surgeons continue to insist that their methods have healed people of ...

The Philippines is no stranger to colonization. Spain, the United States of America, and Japan all fought to keep the Philippine islands under their rule. And Germany, through Denmark, could have been another Philippine colonizer if history had gone another way.Before the ...

Armchair exploration is now a pastime of thousands, thanks to Google Earth. Its satellite imagery is one of the most detailed and comprehensive in the world available to the public, such that regular people are discovering what we thought archaeologists and scientists ...

In 1636 Manila, a man was accused of committing murder most foul. Normally, the courts arranged for justice to be served after due process, but the situation was slightly different. The victim was a Spaniard, and the accused?It was Lorenzo Ruiz.The news ...

It is generally considered common knowledge that Emilio Aguinaldo was the first President of the Philippines, although there is some heated debate on whether or not to consider the Supremo of the Katipunan, Andres Bonifacio, as President, as well. Another significant debate also ...

On September 3, 1945, General Tomoyuki Yamashita formally surrendered, along with his less than 50,000-strong command to American Generals Arthur Percival and Jonathan Wainwright in Camp John Hay, Baguio City. The war had formally ended just weeks before on August 15, when ...

In 1929, 15-year-old Larry Itliong sailed to America along with 31,000 other Filipinos. There, he aspired to become a successful lawyer and dreamed of seeking justice for the poor and the marginalized.But the 1930s was not a good time to be a ...

War has no winners, as the saying goes. An underground tunnel is testament to this: the Onishi Peace Shrine in Tarlac serves as a memorial for the fallen soldiers of World War II. The tunnel was used as a communications base by Japanese ...

Over 120 years ago on August 29, 1896, the Spaniards on suspicion of collaborating with Filipino rebels forcefully arrested Melchora Aquino at her home. She was 84 years old at the time. They were right, of course. But Melchora, affectionately called Tandang ...

It sounds like a question you’d get asked if you were in elementary school, but it pays to re-think it every now and then. The last time we, as a nation, asked ourselves what makes a hero was during the Marcos burial ...

Whether you consider yourself a “Marcos loyalist,” or a “Yellow supporter,” or neither, Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr.’s legacy to the Filipino nation cannot be denied. He was more than consequential; his life (and death) truly shaped the nation. He was a driving ...

The country’s favorite trope of the downtrodden probinsyano boy pining for a girl out of his league could be mostly blamed on movies. In fact, the very first Filipino movie has this exact narrative. The film, called Dalagang Bukid, was directed by Jose Nepomuceno, whose life ...

Today is the death anniversary of Teodora Alonzo, mother, teacher, and protector of the Rizal family.When Jose Rizal was only 11 years old, he witnessed the extraordinary bravery of his mother: The Spaniards arrested Doña Teodora and made her walk 50 kilometers around Laguna. Upon arriving at ...

The early years of the 20th century were some of the most important ones for Philippine society. The revolution failed to remove colonial influence; it only replaced it with American imperialism. New movements were springing up. People were becoming conscious of their ...

Many history books have focused on the Philippines and its ties to many places. As resourceful and as resilient as we are, Filipinos have survived in the farthest corners of the world. Surprisingly that includes Alaska where one of the earliest Filipino settlements is found. Alaska's Filipino community dates ...

Old houses in Metro Manila often get a bad rep. If not blatantly labeled as haunted, some of them have fallen into degradation due to neglect. Yet these structures carry with them the social history of a certain era and show us ...