Today's American Minute

Miguel de Cervantes (September 29, 1547-April 23, 1616) was a Spanish playwright, poet, and considered the first modern novelist. His works, most notably Don Quixote, helped standardize the Spanish language in the same way that William Shakespeare did the English language. Miguel de Cervantes fought in the Battle of Lepanto and was wounded, losing the use of his left hand. The Battle was commemorated in the poem "Lepanto" by G.K. Chesterton, 1911. Four years after the battle, Cervantes was captured by Muslim Barbary pirates and he spent five years in captivity as a slave in Algiers, before being ransomed by the...

Vermont History (1534) from The Original 13-A Documentary History of Religion in America's First Thirteen States (Amerisearch, Inc., 2009): <Vermont, pronounced in French "verts monts," means Green Mountain. It was originally part of New France, an area explored by Jacque Cartier in 1534. It was part of New Hampshire at the time of America's Revolutionary War. Samuel de Champlain was sent there in 1603 by French King Henry IV to begin a settlement. Because growth was slow, Cardinal Richelieu, Prime Minister for King Louis XIII, founded the Company of One Hundred Associates on April 29, 1627, to bring more colonists, increase...

Commission to Jacque Cartier (March 1534) was made by King Francis I. Though the actual commission has not been found, a line from it reportedly stated the objective of the voyage was to find a route to Asia, to establish Churches among the inhabitants, and: <To discover certain islands and lands where it is said a great quantity of gold and other precious things are to be found.> 1534JC001 -- American Quotations by William J. Federer, 2024, All Rights Reserved, Permission granted to use with acknowledgement. Endnotes: 1534JC001. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Commission to Jacque Cartier, March 1534, by...

Elizabeth I (September 7, 1533-March 24, 1603) the Queen of England and Ireland, 1558-1603, was the last Tudor monarch. She was the daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn. After her navy, under Sir Francis Drake, destroyed the Spanish Armada in 1588, England was established as a major European power. In 1558, in answer to the question at her Coronation as to the presence of Christ in the Sacrament, Queen Elizabeth I stated: <Christ was the Word that spake it, He took the bread and brake it, And what that Word did make it, I do believe and take it.> 1533QE001...

William I (April 24, 1533-July 10, 1584) known as William the Silent, was the founder of Dutch independence. He became Prince of Orange (1544) and ruler of Holland, Zeeland and Utrecht (1599). He had served Charles V, King of Spain, as Commander of the troops in France. When Charles died, Philip II became king. Philip not only hated William, but proceeded to stamp out the Protestants in Holland. William I could not permit this persecution and turned on the king, eventually gaining freedom from Spain and forming the Dutch Republic, becoming the first stadtholder of the independent Northern Province in 1579....