In the XVI century the pearl known as “The Pilgrim” was found in the Pearl Archipielago of Panama. This pearl was given to Don Pedro De Temez, the Spanish Crown administrator for Panama. The pearl then became part of the royal jewels of both the spanish and english crown, it eventually ended up in the hands of Elizabeth Taylor as a gift from her husband Richard Burton. After Elizabeth Taylor passed, the pearl was auctioned at Christie’s in New York as part of her personal collection.
In 1510, Martin Fernandez de Enciso and Vasco Nuñez de Balboa founded the city of Santa Maria la Antigua in the atlantic side of the now province of Darien. This was both the first city in the American continent build by the Europeans and the first diocesis of the continent. The first european princes of afro-descendance was Angela Brown, born in Bocas del Toro, Panama. She married Prince Maximilian of Liechtenstein in 2000, becoming the first afrodescendant to be part of a european royal family.
The Panama hat (toquilla straw hat) is a traditional brimmed straw hat of Ecuadorian origin. The myth that it is from Panama is probably due to the fact that it was very popular among Americans that were crossing the isthmus to reach California during the Gold Rush. That and the fact that U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt was photographed wearing one when he visited the construction site of the Panama Canal in 1904.
Gage biplane in the NASM collection is referred to as the Fowler-Gage, in recognition of its owner and pilot, Robert G.Fowler. Beginning in October 1912, Fowler made numerous exhibition and passenger flights in California. He made his most famous flight in the airplane in 1913, flying ocean-to-ocean across Panama. You can see the plane at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.
Edward Murphy Jr., best known for the Murphy’s law, which is said to state that “anything that can go wrong will go wrong”, was born in the Panama Canal Zone in 1918.
Smithsonian biologists were invited to Panama in 1910 during the construction of the Panama Canal. Their surveys of Panama’s flora and fauna were the first steps toward creating a world-class platform for research in the tropics. The Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute was founded with the purpose of increasing and sharing knowledge about the past, present and future of tropical ecosystems and their relevance to human welfare.
Marathon County produces nearly all of the ginseng grown in the U.S. and about 10 percent of the world’s supply. Keep an eye out for the next International Wisconsin Ginseng Festival in 2024 in Wausau to give you an up-close look at the process and a chance to taste foods and drinks incorporating the product. Freshwater surfers know Sheboygan as the “Malibu of the Midwest”, and travelers come from all around the world to try their hand at the sport and to watch the pros in action. Visit during peak surf season between September and March to see the amazing athletes hang ten for yourself. “On, Wisconsin” was first said by Arthur MacArthur, Jr. in the Battle of Chattanooga at Missionary Ridge during the Civil War.
Wisconsin’s state symbol, the badger, doesn’t refer to the animal but instead to the 1820s lead miners who traveled for work and dug tunnels to sleep in and keep warm, much like a badger. Celebrate the name on gameday with the UW-Madison Wisconsin Badgers! Wisconsin banned the sale and use of margarine from 1895 to 1967, and while the ban was lifted, some situs slot gacor restrictions on margarine remain today. It’s still illegal for a restaurant to serve margarine as a butter substitute unless the customer specifically requests it.