As indicated in its statute of autonomy, the flag of Cantabria (in north Spain) is “formed by two horizontal stripes of equal width, white on top and red on the bottom”, with the coat of arms in the center. It is a banner that traces its origins back to the 18th century, but in recent […]

It is clear that ethnic differences, like religious ones, have been the origin of countless conflicts throughout the world from Antiquity to the present day. It is not surprising, then, that this also occurred when the Old and New Worlds established definitive contact after Columbus’s arrival in 1492. These differences manifested in Spanish America through […]

In Greek mythology, Delphi was considered the omphalos or navel of the world, the womb of the goddess Gaia (in fact, that is what the original name means, and it is believed that dolphins are named after it because of their womb-like shape), and although it was the possession of Apollo, it had previously been […]

It is very common to find images of birds in the art of Ancient Egypt. We see them in paintings and sculptures with species of all kinds, from the ducks hunted on the Nile to the ibis that lent its head to the god Thoth, to the vulture that topped the white crown of Upper […]

To this Greek philosopher, follower of Pythagoras and teacher of Heraclitus, to whom he instilled the idea that the arché or principle of all things was fire, are attributed—disputably—the discovery of irrational numbers, the construction of a dodecahedron inscribed in a sphere, and several works on acoustics. He also founded a mathematical section in the […]

“I have sent him a ribbon when, in fact, what he deserved was a rope.” This phrase is attributed to King George IV of England, and the ribbon in question would be that of the Order of the Bath, which had just been awarded to Edward Codrington, the admiral who had achieved victory in the […]

One of the greatest affronts suffered by the Roman legions took place in 321 BC, after the Battle of the Caudine Forks. Not only because of the forced surrender, without even fighting, but also due to the humiliation that officers and soldiers endured afterwards, being forced to pass, dressed only in their tunics, under a […]