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1835 Concepcion Earthquake
Charles Darwin experienced a major earthquake in the Concepción-Valdivia region of Chile 175 years ago, in February 1835.
Quote: “That was the year of the floods, which were immortalized in schoolchildren’s textbooks and in their grandparents’ memories. . . .a series of minor temblors, which came like God’s wrath, finished destroying everything . . .” (38-39).
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21038753/. -
First Opium War
"“The British had already discovered a great market in southern China for smuggled opium, and American traders soon also turned to opium to supplement their exports to China." "Masses of humanity poured from the countryside and appeared with their tatters and pustules in the cities, where they were driven back, forced to wander the highways of the empire like packs of starving dogs" (200). -
Vicente Perez Rosales Arrives in California
In the fall of 1848, the brig J.R.S. sailed into Valparaiso carrying California gold. She was followed by the Adelaide and the Correo de Talcahuano, which carried 130 pounds of gold dust.
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/goldrush-vicente-perez-rosales -
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
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Great Flock to California
“The promise of wealth forever altered the life expectations of the hundreds of thousands of people who flooded California in 1849 and the decade that followed. The gold also fired up the U.S. economy and fueled wild dreams like the construction of a cross-country railroad line.”
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/goldrush-california/ -
Great Flock to California
“The promise of wealth forever altered the life expectations of the hundreds of thousands of people who flooded California in 1849 and the decade that followed. The gold also fired up the U.S. economy and fueled wild dreams like the construction of a cross-country railroad line.”
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/goldrush-california/ -
Site of the Niantic Hotel
“The ship was subsequently converted for use as a store, warehouse, offices, and hotel. Above the door cut into the vessel’s side was the inscription “Rest for the weary and storage for trunks.” https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/site-of-the-niantic-gold-rush-ship-hotel "“Some of the empty ships had been rented as storehouses or temporary hotels; others had been left to rot, covered with algae and gulls’ nests” (263). -
Chilean Silver Rush
With antecedents dating back to the 18th century , copper and silver mining gained new impetus with the discovery of the Agua Amarga and Arqueros silver deposits, in the first and second decades of the 19th century, respectively. The passage connects with the quote, "“ . . .rich veins of silver and gold were discovered in the north” (65).
http://www.memoriachilena.cl/602/w3-article-727.html. -
Sacramento Flood
The flood occurred on Jan. 10, 1850 in one of the first years of Sacramento's settlement. It was catastrophic. Way back when John Sutter had canvassed the land, Native Americans had warned him of the "inland sea" of the valley. https://www.abc10.com/article/news/history/when-sacramento-became-levee-city/103-48d5063b-ad48-4b32-9709-c7ca4fe8ea79#:~:text=The%20flood%20occurred%20on%20Jan,inland%20sea%22%20of%20the%20valley.