Today, 16th Nov 2013 in History! LEAD STORY On November 16, 1532, Francisco Pizarro, the Spanish explorer and conquistador, springs a trap on the Incan emperor, Atahualpa. With fewer than 200 men against several thousand, Pizarro lures Atahualpa to a feast in the emperors honor and then opens fire on the unarmed Incans. Pizarros men massacre the Incans and capture Atahualpa, forcing him to convert to Christianity before eventually killing him.Pizarros timing for conquest was perfect. By 1532, the Inca Empire was embroiled in a civil war that had decimated the population and divided the peoples loyalties. Atahualpa, the younger son of former Incan ruler Huayna Capac, had just deposed his half-brother Huascar and was in the midst of reuniting his kingdom when Pizarro arrived in 1531, with the endorsement of Spains King Charles V. On his way to the Incan capital, Pizarro learned of the war and began recruiting soldiers still loyal to Huascar. Pizarro met Atahualpa just outside Cajamarca, a small Incan town tucked into a valley of the Andes. Sending his brother Hernan as an envoy, Pizarro invited Atahualpa back to Cajamarca for a feast in honor of Atahualpas ascendance to the throne. Though he had nearly 80,000 soldiers with him in the mountains, Atahualpa consented to attend the feast with only 5,000 unarmed men. He was met by Vicente de Valverde, a friar traveling with Pizarro. While Pizarros men lay in wait, Valverde urged Atahualpa to convert and accept Charles V as sovereign. Atahualpa angrily refused, prompting Valverde to give the signal for Pizarro to open fire. Trapped in tight quarters, the panicking Incan soldiers made easy prey for the Spanish. Pizarros men slaughtered the 5,000 Incans in just an hour. Pizarro himself suffered the only Spanish injury: a cut on his hand sustained as he saved Atahualpa from death. AMERICAN REVOLUTION Fort Washington Is Captured, 1776 AUTOMOTIVER iker Torpedo Racer sets the world speed record for electric cars, 1901 CIVIL WAR Rebels fail to defeat Yankees at the Battle of Campbell Station,1863 COLD WAR German scientists brought to United States to work on rocket technology, 1945 CRIME Ed Gein kills final victim Bernice Worden, 1957 DISASTER Construction begins on deadly bonfire, 1999 GENERAL INTEREST Hessians capture Fort Washington, 1776 Oklahoma enters the Union, 1907 Benazir Bhutto elected leader of Pakistan, 1988 HOLLYWOOD First Harry Potter film opens, 2001 LITERARY Fyodor Dostoevsky is sentenced to death, 1849 MUSIC The Sound of Music premieres on Broadway, 1959 OLD WEST Becknell opens trade on the Santa Fe Trail, 1821 PRESIDENTIAL Nixon supports construction of the Alaskan oil pipeline, 1973 SPORTS Notre Dame ends Oklahoma record winning streak, 1957 VIETNAM WAR Kennedy decides to increase military aid to Saigon, 1961 Ky defends South Vietnamese operations in Cambodia, 1970 U.S. provides support to beleaguered Cambodians, 1971 WORLD WAR I New Fatherland League launched in Germany, 1914 WORLD WAR II Goebbels publishes his screed of hate, 1941
Posted on: Sat, 16 Nov 2013 04:12:52 +0000
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