21. Discovery of the Strait of Magellan, 1520. The sailor Ferdinand Magellan, heading an expedition formed by five ships with a crew of over two hundred men, had sailed from Spain to find a route leading to the Islands of the Species without having to circumnavigate Africa, continuing the discoveries already achieved by Pilot Major Juan Díaz de Solís. In January 1520 they arrived at the Sweet Water Sea that Díaz de Solís had discovered. Realizing its nature, he called it River of Solís. He then continued South, following the Patagonia shoreline. Since winter was approaching, the expedition made a long stop at San Julián. From there they conducted exploration and recognizance sorties, one of which was probably the first to discover the Malvinas Islands, which they surveyed, with the expedition’s geographer drawing what was probably the first map of the islands. On August 24 they sailed forth and by October 21 they arrived at a wide sea arm that went inland. After deliberating, they moved forward preceded by boats that were sounding permanently, and managed to cross the Strait in the space of three weeks. Magellan called the Strait the "Canal of All Saints" and gave the southern coast the name of Tierra del Fuego (Land of Fire).
21. Viscount Horatio Nelson defeats Franco-Spanish fleet off Cape Trafalgar, Spain, dying there, 1805.
21. The destroyer Elath of the Naval Forces of Israel is sunk by Russian built Stynx mísiles fired from Komar class PT boats of the Egyptian Navy, 1967. Naval warfare entered in a new era.
22. President John F. Kennedy announces establishment of Russian missile bases in Cuba, 1962.
22. Sinking of Israeli destroyer Eilat by Egyptian mísiles off the coast of Sinai, 1967.
23. Indian raid in Bahía Blanca, Province of Buenos Aires, 1870. Cacique Manuel Namuncurá attacked Bahía Blanca with a force of 2,000 Indians. The town was defended by the local population and the forces of the military garrison under Commander Jose O. Llano. Before dawn that day, a force of 500 Indians attacked a small party headed by Lieutenant Rufino Romero in Napostá, who managed to fight them off, but was unable to prevent the theft of cattle.
23. Second Battle of El Alamein, 1942.
23. Soviet troops enter East Prussia, 1944.
24. Aurangzeb, last Mogul Emperor of India, is born, 1618.
24. The Thirty Years War ends with the signing of the Treaty of Westphalia, 1648.
24. French counter-offensive recapture Fort Douaumont, Verdun, 1916.
24. German siege of Sebastopol begins, 1941.
24. Soviet tanks in Budapest suppressing a Hungarian uprising, 1956.
24. Beginning of American blockade of Cuba, 1962.
25. General Carlos de Alvear was born in Misiones, 1789. He was educated in England and later in Spain, where he received military training and took part in the wars against the French. In 1812 he returned to the River Plate, together with José de San Martín, Matías Zapiola and other military men. In 1813 he was appointed President of the General Constitutional Assembly, while representing the Province of Misiones. He proposed abolishing the trade in slaves, nobility titles and torments. In 1814 he was appointed Commander in Chief of the forces that had laid siege to Montevideo and caused Royalist General Vigodet to capitulate on June 20. On January 9, 1815 he was appointed Supreme Director, but was toppled by a revolution in April and fled to Brazil. He returned to Buenos Aires in 1822. During the War with Brazil he was Commander in Chief of the Operations Army, and put an end to the campaign with the victory of Ituzaingó on February 20, 1827. In 1829 he was appointed War Minister and he then retired from public life until Juan M. Rosas appointed him Minister Plenipotentiary in the United States, where he served until his death on November 2, 1853.
25. Capture of the frigate HMS Macedonian by the frigate USS United States under command of Captain Stephen Decatur, 1812. Until her retirement in 1871, USS Macedonian played an important role in American diplomacy by virtue of her special status as a prize of war.
25. Battle of Balaclava in the Crimean War won by the British and French Allies. On same day, famous Charge of the Light Brigade, 1854.
25. Start of Rhodesia's (now Zimbabwe) Second Matabele War, 1893. Ndebele amabutho (regiments), similar in organization to those of the Zulus, attacked. 6,000 warriors slashed against a campament on the Shangani River. Hundreds of Ndebele died, with less than 10 members of the militia of Dr. Leander S. Jameson, administrator of Cecil Rhodes´ British South African Company. One week later, on November 1, a second frontal assault on Jameson's place resulted in more than 1,000 Ndebele casualties. At the end of 1895, Dr. Jameson lead a disastrous raid against the Boers of Transvaal being imprisioned. When news of this fiasco reached the city of Bulawayo, the Ndebele warriors outlined a plan to rid the land of white setlers and conquer Bulawayo. Then a cruel period of this war start. On May 11, a relief finally reached the setlers. A force of 600 Rhodesians from Salisbury, led by Cecil Rhodes linked with a mounted column from Bulawayo. The troops combed the northeast of the city, skirmishing with Ndebele regiments. After a few months in which some bloody battles were performed on August 18, 1896, chief Sekombo request a peace treat. It would take generations to rebuild the damages to all.
25. Israeli forces bomb Port Suez, Egypt, destroying its oil refinery, 1967.
26. Freedom of the press was decreed in the United Provinces of the River Plate, 1811.
26. Lev Trotsky, leader of the Bolshevik Revolution, is born near Kirovo, Russia, 1879.
26. Lenin leads the Bolsheviks in the October Revolution, overthrowing Kerensky's government in Petrograd, 1917.
26. Marshal Zhukov, Soviet Minister of Defense, is dismissed, 1957.
27. Marcus Brutus, assassin of Julius Caesar, dies in Rome, 42 bC.
27. Final failure of French invasión of Ireland, 1798.
27. Napoleon occupies Berlin, 1806.
28. Marcus Aurelius Valerius Maxentius is defeated by Constantine the Great at Mulvian Bridge, 312.
28. Prussian forces capture Strasbourg, 1870.
28. Jahangir, Mogul Emperor of India, dies, 1627.
28. Creation of the Inspectorate of Military Bands of the Argentine Army, 1895. The Argentine Army had marching bands since it was established in May 1810, as a heritage of the Spanish military organization that existed in the Viceroyship of the River Plate. At the end of the 19th Century, when the foundations to organize a modern army were being laid, the Inspectorate of Military Bands was created, among other things, with the aim of standardizing and ordering the Army’s musical activities. Tradition has published the march Inspectorate of Military Bands, composed as a tribute by Major and Band Director José Giordano, in TR020103 "Marches and Bugle Calls of the Argentine Army".
29. Austrians defeated by Frederick II of Prussia's troops at Freiberg, 1762.
29. Joseph Goebbels, Nazi leader and propagandist, is born in Germany, 1897.
29. Turkey attacks Russian Black Sea bases and joins the Central Powers, 1914.
29. Israeli forces stormed into the Sinai Peninsula occupaying it, 1956.
30. The Battle of Hanau (to 31-10), 1813.
30. First public performance of Marcha de San Lorenzo, by Cayetano Silva, 1902. The march evokes the combat that took place on February 3, 1813, in the lands of San Carlos Convent, on the banks of the Parana River and close to the town of San Lorenzo, in the Province of Santa Fe. It was the first time the Regiment of Mounted Grenadiers saw action. This brilliant march was probably composed in 1892, and was performed in public for the first time at the dedication of the monument to General José de San Martín in the city of Santa Fe. Tradition has published it in its TR020103 "Marches and Bugle Calls of the Argentine Army".
30. Turkey signs armistice with the Allies at Mudros, 1918.
30. Beginning of German High Seas Fleet mutiny, 1918.
31. The USS Philadelphia, a frigate with 38 heavy guns cruising near Tripoli slid onto a ref. and stuck fast at 3 Km. from the North African coast, 1803. Surrounded by Tripolitanian gunboats and with her guns being unable to operate, Captain William Bainbridge surrenders the ship. The murderous Pasha of Tripoli, Yusuf Karamanli capture the crew –more than 300 men- and try unsuccessfully to float Philadelphia from the reef.
31. General William Miller died at sea, 1861. He was buried in Lima, Peru. This noted warrior of South America's independence was born in Wingham, Kent, England, on December 12, 1795. When he was very young he joined the British Army and fought in the Peninsular Wars (Spain) under Wellington. In August 1817 he arrived in Buenos Aires and joined the Argentine Army as an Artillery Captain. On January 24, 1818 he joined the Argentine- Chilean Army in Chile, and took part in different battles. General San Martín appointed him his Aide de Camp and as such, he performed several very sensitive commissions. He participated in the campaign to liberate Peru. On June 18, 1835 the Government of Peru named him Marshal. He was sent by Peru to Ecuador as minister plenipotentiary to sign a Treaty of Alliance between both countries. In 1837 he was made Political and Military Governor of El Callao, Peru. Later he was exiled from Peru and settled in Guayaquil, Ecuador. On March 15, 1861 Marshal Ramón Castillo, then President of Peru, ordered all his titles and honors restored.
31. Chiang Kai Shek, Chinese nationalist leader, is born, 1887.
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