On this day in 1866, the Spanish Armada assaulted the coast Peruvian town of Callao (Cai-yow) in the Battle of Callao. In an attempt to get back its reputation as a force to be reckoned with, Spain antagonized their former colonies Peru and Chile.

Cannon fire sounded from sea and from land. But the Spanish Armada was a too far out in the water for their attack to be effective. The city, not being able to move, was similarly not close enough to put a definitive end to the battle. A small Peruvian fleet of ships were able to get close enough to inflict severe damage to the Spanish Armada, and ward them off by the end of the day. The batteries in the city of Callao had run out, and were quiet as the Spanish departed. Spain called it a win, their glory restored.  Peruvians, having escaped unconquered and seen the Spanish retreat, also called it a win. A U.S. General onsite during the battle summed it up by saying it was “glorious both to Peru and Spain. On the part of Peru it will be a feast day forever, and on the part of Spain the Duke of Callao claimed his title for this victory!”

Today is the birthday of the real McCoy, Elijah J. McCoy. He was born in 1844 to fugitive slaves who had escaped to Canada. The family moved to Detroit, Michigan where McCoy grew up. 

At the age of 15 McCoy was somehow able to secure an apprenticeship learning mechanics. When he came back, he found it difficult to find work right away in his field, so he maintained a shop of his own at his own, tinkering with engines and engine parts. The tinkering paid off when in 1872 he patented an automatic lubricator for oiling steam engines. 

As his inventions improved, railroad engineers would request mechanisms that were “the real McCoy” instead of imitations made by competitors. As such, the expression came to mean something is authentic, true, the real thing.

Today is the birthday of Catherine the Great. Otherwise known as Catherine II, Empress of Russia from 1762 until her death in 1796. She was only 16 when she married the Russian heir to the throne Peter III and she quickly grew tired of him. She was not alone in her feelings of the future emperor. Peter was abrasive and a bully to whoever was in closest proximity, and Catherine made friends and lovers of Peter’s haters. 

By the time Catherine and Peter ascended to the throne in 1762, plans were already in motion to remove Peter from the equation. Six months after their pair’s coronation while away on a summer vacation, Peter uncovered and arrested one of Catherine’s co-conspirators. Catherine received a letter alerting her to the events and within a matter of days arrested her husband, forced him to abdicate the throne, and was coronated as the sole Empress of Russia. A week later Peter III died under rather mysterious circumstances. 

Catherine was immediately accepted as sole Empress. She had had nearly two decades of allying with the courtiers and politicians, and a life-education that made her almost over-qualified to rule. The country prospered under, and she was able to help Russia be recognized as a major power in Europe by the end of the 18th century.

And today is the birthday of Hedda Hopper. When Hedda’s career as an actress in Hollywood fizzled out, she took on a job as a gossip columnist. Her acting contacts allowed her to get a leg up on stories, even if they weren’t all true. She was hated by most of Hollywood, but read by tens of millions of readers in the 1940s and ‘50s. While her work wasn’t going to win any Pulitzers, gossip columns about the rich and famous certainly persist to this day in a variety of consumable media. 

William Stanley Braithwaite