1635 Guadeloupe (West Indies) , History: France established a permanent settlement at Port-Louis. It remains French and is one of the few places in the Western Hemisphere where the Euro is legal tender.* It is mentioned on TF2 news now and again as the poorest, most backward, most deprived department of France. Think Louisiana and there it is.
1762 St Petersburg, History: Catherine II became sovereign Tsarina and stayed that until her death in 1796. She displaced her estranged husband Peter III in a coup d’état. We saw some of locales of these events in our visit to Russia and some of her gear.
1790 Sydney, History: Lieutenant James MacArthur of the NSW Corps arrived in Sydney. Together with his wife Elizabeth he imported a flock of merino sheep bought in South Africa. By 1803 they had 4000 which they bred carefully. They began exporting wool in 1807 and so the sheep’s back entered Australian history.
1838 Queen Victoria was crowned in Westminster Abbey, a year after acceding to the throne, in an elaboration coronation ceremony.
1888 Apia (Samoa) Robert Louis Stevenson settled in Samoa which inspired his novel of adventure ‘Treasure Island.’ ‘X’ marks the spot, Long John!
*Smart alecks may wish to name others. Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Martinique, and Saint Martin, French Guyana. The Dutch holdings, like Aruba, use a unique currency.
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