This month’s Did You Know column highlights the pearl, the beautiful birthstone associated with the month of June. The history of pearl collecting in Mexico goes back a very long way. When Spanish explorers sailed into the Sea of Cortés (Gulf of California) in the early 1530s they encountered Pericú Indians wearing necklaces strung with red […]
Continue ReadingThe world’s first patent for a color TV was granted to a young Mexican inventor. Guillermo González Camarena was just 23 years old in 1940 when he submitted his application in Mexico for a US Patent. He was granted Patent No. 2,296,019 protecting his development of an “improved chromoscopic adapter” using the “Trichromatic” system for […]
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Lake Chapala, Mexico’s largest natural lake, is dying. The lake right now plays a vital role in a gigantic ecosystem, the River Lerma-Lake Chapala drainage basin, which includes more than 8 million people, 3,500 diverse industries, 750,000 hectares of irrigated farmland and 14 cities with populations in excess of 100,000. At the western extremity of […]
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In the sixteenth century, when the Spanish adventurer Cortés heard rumors of an exceptionally favorable port site on the west coast of Mexico, he immediately sent men to investigate. Cortés’ information came from a Tarascan ruler who, under torture, had told of the arrival at a place called Tzalagua, years before, of the boats of […]
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In 1887, Eulogio Gregorio Clemente Gillow y Zavalza (1841-1922) was appointed Bishop of Antequera (Oaxaca). Four years later, he became the first Archbishop of Antequera. Named after a town in Spain, Antequera is the Catholic archdiocese of Mexico which includes the city of Oaxaca. Archbishop Gillow had a somewhat curious background. He was the only […]
Continue ReadingMathieu de Fossey was born in France in 1805, and educated in Dijon. Politically disillusioned following the end of the reign of King Charles X in 1830, Fossey responded enthusiastically to an intriguing pamphlet he read publicising the challenges and opportunities for French settlers in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, Mexico. At that time, most Europeans […]
Continue ReadingDuring the Mexican dry season, a peculiar and very distinctive leafless tree often attracts attention because it appears to have large balls of fluffy cotton-wool attached to the ends of its branches. These kapok or silk-cotton trees belong to the Bombax family, Bombacaceae, which includes many fascinating, handsome and much admired trees. They played a […]
Continue ReadingBrown, arid hillsides barely visible in a distant haze. Isolated green cacti with contorted, knotted arms, coarse, spiny fingers and bright red, seemingly nailpolished fruits set against an endless tanned landscape. This may not seem like an area likely to guard tourist treasures, but beneath the surface lie hidden surprises. For hundreds of years, chunks […]
Continue ReadingA charwoman-actress once captivated Mexican high society in her alter ego as Don Carlos Balmori. An elaborate tomb in Mexico City’s main cemetery, the Panteón Civil de Dolores, is a lasting reminder of one of the nation’s strangest ever spoofs. Hand-painted tiles once decorated the tomb depicting Concepción (Conchita) Jurado as both an elderly grey-haired […]
Continue ReadingSeveral famous Mexican artists had serious physical disabilities. Three Mexican artists, whose very different works are admired annually by thousands, and who were born in successive decades of the nineteenth century, each achieved greatness despite the fact that they suffered from a serious physical disability. Jesús Contreras was born in 1866. He studied in Europe, […]
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