The Ostend Manifesto was a document written in 1854 describing the rationale for the United States to purchase Cuba from Spain, and declaring that the U.S. would be "justified in wresting" the island from Spanish hands if Spain refused to sell. Cuba's annexation had long been a goal of Southern slaveholding expansionists, although U.S. national leaders had been satisfied to have it remain in Spanish hands rather than those of Britain or France. At the suggestion of Secretary of State William L. Marcy, three American ministers in Europe (Pierre Soulé(pictured), James Buchanan and John Y. Mason) met in Ostend, Belgium, to discuss strategy related to acquisition of Cuba. To Marcy's chagrin, the flamboyant Soulé had made no secret of the meetings, causing unwanted publicity in the U.S. and Europe. The administration of President Franklin Pierce was finally forced to publish the contents of the dispatch, which caused it irreparable damage. The manifesto was immediately denounced in the Northern states and Europe, and it became a rallying cry for Northerners seeking to control the vote on slavery. The question of Cuba's annexation was effectively set aside until the late 19th century. (Full article...)
... that Johann Konrad Kern was a major author of Switzerland's first federal constitution in 1848?
... that Mthatha Airport was turned into a military zone and no-fly zone to accommodate the body of Nelson Mandela and heads of state attending his funeral in the nearby village of Qunu?
1874 – The Universal Postal Union, then known as the General Postal Union, was established with the signing of the Treaty of Bern to unify disparate postal services and regulations so that international mail could be exchanged freely.
The white-necked petrel (Pterodroma cervicalis) is a seabird in the family Procellariidae; adults measure some 43 centimetres (17 in) in length, with a wingspan of 95–105 centimetres (37–41 in). Although the species is found in much of the South Pacific, it breeds on only three islands and is thus considered vulnerable by the IUCN.
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