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The first letter bomb was made in a pharmacy in Vigo and exploded in the hands of the captain general of Galicia in 1829.

April 19, 2026 by usatoday24

TO Nazario Eguía and Sáenz de Buruaga (1777-1865) we remember him for his political and military career, which even earned him the title of Count of Casa Eguía, but if this Biscayan with strong absolutist convictions was a pioneer in something (despite himself), it was in something else: letter bombs. In October 1829, Eguía found an envelope in his office in Santiago de Compostela that burst as he took off the flap, causing him more a dozen woundssome very serious. Let it be known that it was the first letter-bomb in history and its origin (or at least that is suspected) you have to look for it in a pharmacy in Vigo. “Excessively hard”. Nazario Eguía He was going to become a clergyman, but the war got in his way. At the age of 16 he abandoned ecclesiastical studies, took up arms against the French troops and began a brilliant military career that led him to serve under the orders of Wellingtonpromote to Field Marshal before the age of 37 and occupy the position of captain general of Galicia. Over time they would even name him a count and he would distinguish himself as an outstanding Carlist. In addition to his successes on the battlefield, Eguía was known for his toughness, which among other things earned him the hatred of the liberals while he served as captain general of Galicia. As explained the biography dedicated to him by the Society of Basque Studies, displayed an “excessively harsh” character. And that ended up generating quite a few enemies. Among them some with chemical knowledge and amazing expertise when it comes to assembling almost undetectable bombs. “Del Rey, for General Eguía”. The event occurred on the morning of October 29, 1829 in the Santa Cruz palace in Santiago de Compostela, where Eguía had his office. The soldier was reviewing the correspondence with his assistant when a package caught his attention. The sheet in question came from León and came wrapped in three different envelopes. The assistant was in charge of opening the first two, but when he reached the third he found a note: “Very reserved. From the King to General Eguía”. The soldier, a staunch absolutist, could not resist the temptation: he took the letter from his assistant, went to his table, ran his index finger along one of the folds and tore the envelope. Mistake. “At the same moment a loud explosion was heard. The table sprang to pieces and the general and the chair rolled on the floor,” details the writer Manuel Curros Enríquez (1852-1908) when remembering what happened that morning. “When he got up he had one of his hands destroyed.” “A terrifying detonation”. Curros’ story is not the only story that allows us to get an idea of how serious the explosion was. Another testimonyeven more valuable, was contributed by Eguía’s secretary: “A frightful detonation and the surprise left the bystanders as if petrified, whose astonishment grew when they saw their general pouring blood from his face (…) and observed the frock coat he was wearing, defeated by the mouth-sleeves and part that covered the belly.” The journalist and historian Eduardo Rolland remember that the Galician press even explained how the explosion left a blood stain on the roof of the palace that could still be seen several months after the attack. Result: 13 wounds. Not only do we have a precise idea of what the explosion was like. We also know what the bomb looked like and the effect it had on its victim. Regarding the first, the letter contained gunpowder mixed with arsenic and crushed glass, a combination designed to cause maximum damage. As for the captain general, he survived by a pure miracle. The chronicles say that he suffered 13 woundssome very seriousdistributed over the face, belly and thighs. The worst part was taken by their hands. The right one was so torn that doctors had to amputate it. On the left he lost two fingers. He was so badly off that the Government had to grant him a dispensation special so that he could sign documents with the help of a stamp. Who was the author? It seems that Eguía did not have many doubts. The story de Curros (not without epic) claims that after the explosion the captain proclaimed that he still had one hand left “to hang the culprit” and then cited his main suspect: “No one but Chao is capable of inventing such a perfect work!” This Chao was neither more nor less than José María Chao, chemist, pharmacist and above all a militant liberal. We know that he was a native of Leiro (province of Ourense), who participated in skirmishes during the Liberal Triennium and that around 1826 he set up a pharmacy in what is now the historic center of Vigo, a pharmacy that ended up becoming a reference for liberals forced to adapt to the Omino DecadeOh the repression under the reign of Ferdinand VII. The big doubt. Was Chao really the creator of the first known letter bomb? It is certainly not strange that Eguía suspected him. In addition to his chemical knowledge, in October 1829 Chao he had just gotten out of prison and it is said that his pharmacy was a hotbed of conspirators. It is true that the package bomb had been sent from Leónbut that could have been a ploy to deceive the authorities. However, evidence is one thing and evidence is another. Not all sources agree on whether the attack was clarified and Chao’s responsibility was confirmed. The biography that the Royal Academy of History (RAH) dedicates to Eguía assures that, although the liberals were suspected, “the authors could not be discovered.” The Voice of Galicia assures However, the apothecary could not get rid of a punishment and Rolland goes further and he slips that in 1873 Chao was “unequivocally” identified as the author of the letter. The first letter-bomb in history? What surely neither Eguía, nor Chao, nor any … Read more

On August 1, 1828, an English captain shot himself in Chile. And thanks to that Darwin devised the theory of evolution

February 4, 2026 by usatoday24

On August 1, 1828, in Puerto del Hambre, Chile, an English captain shot himself in the head. He died twelve days later, in his cabin, moaning and screaming in pain. His grave is still there, decorated with nautical charts. His ship took two years, HMS Beagleto arrive back at Plymouth and when he did he had a 26-year-old aristocrat named Robert FitzRoy as captain. Along with the Titanic, the Santa María and the Nautilus, the Beagle is one of the best-known ships in the world. For five years it was the home of a very young English naturalist named Charles Darwin who, over the years, would come to state one of the most dangerous ideas ever thought of: the theory of evolution. But the story could have been different (and very different!) because of a simple nose. A captain who did not want to be alone Despite his youth, Captain FitzRoy had several things in his favor: he had commanded a ship for two years, he had completed the expedition successfully and, above all, he was the nephew of George FitzRoy, 4th Duke of Granfton. Therefore, it was not surprising that he was entrusted with another of the large number of missions that attempted to carry out hydrographic surveys of the coasts of South America. With the independence of the Latin American republics, this cartographic information was of vital importance for the British army. The only problem was that it was a terribly boring task. Without going any further, Pringle Stokesthe captain I was talking about at the beginning, fell into a very deep depression before committing suicide. That’s why FitzRoy asked for a geologist for the mission. No one disputes that, as they had already verified on the previous mission, bringing someone capable of “knowing the nature of the rocks and soils” of the regions they were visiting could be very useful. But that was only the official reason. FitzRoy didn’t want to be alone. I should have written that ‘only’ in quotes. Evidently a brig of the class Cherokee Like that one, it carried an average of 120 people in its belly. But the aristocracy has always been exquisite for its companies. The captain was looking for a gentleman with scientific interests and a university education who could be excellent company to talk to during the months of the trip. The problem was how to select that gentleman. Luckily, FitzRoy knew how to do it. The mirror of the soul Although physiognomy is as old as human beingsthe idea that people’s personalities could be known through the shape of their faces became popular thanks to Lavater, a Swiss shepherd who lived in the second half of the 18th century. And when I say popular, I say very popular. The great intellectuals of the time accepted the pseudoscientific theses of physiognomy as a proven fact. It didn’t matter who we were talking about: doctors like Charles Bellphilosophers like Herbert Spencer or writers like Balzac; Everyone looked at the drawing of eyebrows, the prominence of a chin or the shape of a nose looking for clues to understand those around them. FriztRoy too. When it became clear that none of his friends wanted to accompany him on the trip, the captain wrote to the Admiralty to find someone who, meeting the requirements, would like to accompany them. They were able to contact the University of Cambridge. After a few unsuccessful attempts, a 22-year-old young man appeared at FitzRoy’s door who, on paper, seemed perfect. But on the paper, understand me, the silhouette of his nose was not there. Oh my goodness, the nose! He was convinced that that nose was not that of a man with the energy and determination necessary for such a trip. FitzRoy did the impossible so that that guy wouldn’t step on the Beagle at any time. But eventually it became clear that he either accepted that nose or he would have to make the journey alone. And thank goodness. That nose collected dozens of samples and collections, took thousands of geological, biological and anthropological notes and, many years later, enunciated the theory of evolution. A nose named Charles Darwin. Physiognomy could change the history of contemporary biology (even if it was call evolutionary thought ‘wallacism’). So that they then say that pseudosciences are not dangerous. Send noses.

I have detected the exact moment in which things in Marvel began to fail and that has culminated in ‘Captain America’

February 13, 2025 by usatoday24

Until the weekend, when the public’s opinion begins to fly over the Internet (which in the end is the one who pays and the one that interests Disney, since the consensus of criticism and public they generated ‘Infinity War‘ and ‘Endey me‘It is unlikely to be repeated again), we will not know if’Captain America: Brave New World‘It is a failure or a triumph. What we can analyze is at what point in the history of MCU Things began to twist. The majority opinion. We can all be more or less agree that there is an MCU stage with a more or less positive balance (which goes from acceptable to the glorious, according to the fan’s enthusiasm) that begins in ‘Iron Man’ and extends until ‘ Endgame ‘. And from there, things began to twist, with stages 4 and 5 mainly disastrous that led to the first Marvel box office failures, to a possible “Superheroic fatigue“And at the time of current uncertainty. But there are nuances. Matiz one: Not the whole field is oregano. 23 films, which is said soon, make up the MCU from ‘Iron Man’ to ‘Endgame’ (well, to ‘Spider-Man: Far from home‘). It is statistically impossible for all to be round, and we cannot even agree on our appreciations. For example, for the signer ‘Iron Man 3’ it is one of the peaks of the MCU, many would say the opposite, and I think it was a mistake that Marvel did not continue to cultivate that way. And there are a multitude of bland films, which are celebrated just because they are in the context of very grossing productions and well considered: ‘Iron Man 2’, ‘Thor: The dark world’ or ‘Avengers: the era of ultron’ are some of them . Matiz two: Not everything is horrible from phase 4. And on the contrary, there are innumerable films (and series) to celebrate from ‘Endgame’: ‘Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of madness‘It is hilarious, and the generally hated’Quantumanía‘ either ‘The Marvels‘They are failed films but with a very claimable personality. And of course, there are multiple remarkable moments in ‘Wandavision‘,’Knight Luna‘ either ‘Agatha, who if not?‘ The authentic problem. The drama of phases 4 and 5 is that they do not have that very pleasant style of the first three stages of going in one direction and with a purpose. Perhaps it became like this, perhaps not, but the feeling that ‘Endgame’ is designed from the first appearance of the Avengers is there, and that does not exist in phases 4 and 5. Of course, there are threads that connect everything, like The theme of the multiversos, but there are many films (‘Shang-Chi‘,’Thor: Love and Thunder‘,’Wakanda Forever‘), which seem to air shots, as looking for new charismatic heroes that replace the Avengers. And as in ‘Brave New World’, the feeling that is a useless effort floats. The movie hinge. And Marvel’s first failure, ‘Eternals‘It is the key point. Marvel had loose films previously, and possibly any did not give up at the box office as they expected, but ‘Eternals’ is the first one that forced them to go back. They wanted the group to become a new avengers, but a team capable of supporting the weight of several films: they raised sub -brains that would last in other films, and new characters seen fleetingly, such as Starfox, of which we did not return namely. Marvel reculled in his plan, and the worst thing is that he saw that he could reculate and the public accepted it, which multiplied the test movies, the ideas that were isolated in a film and the failed experiments. A world that played the mirage of being compact and coherent became one where neglect and carelessness predominates. Header | Disney In Xataka | The first trailer of ‘The fantastic 4: first steps’ reveals the key ingredient for Marvel’s future: its villain

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