QCOSTARICA – Like the rest of Central America, Costa Ricans on this day, September 15, celebrate their independence.
However, a group is calling on a change in legislation to celebrate the day on October 29, the day the country proclaimed its independence from Spain and not the September 15 proclamation in Guatemala.
Costa Rica never fought for independence from Spain. In fact, independence surprise the some 50,000 Costa Ricans living in the province of Cartago, then the country’s capital, when on October 11, 1821 arrived the news that authorities in Guatemala declared the independence of all of Central America.
It was on October 29, 1821 that Costa Rica with a proposal that Central America join the Mexican Empire under the terms of the Three Guarantees of the Treaty of Córdoba.
After a brief civil war, in 1822 Costa Rica declared allegiance to the First Mexican Empire, which collapsed shortly after in 1823. At that time, Costa Rica and the rest of Central America united to establish the Central American Federation, or the Federal States of Central America. However, due to the country’s remoteness and lack of resources, the Federation showed little interest in its southern province and Costa Rica reaped few rewards from its involvement.
In 1834, the first Chief of State, Juan Mora Fernandez, signed the Aprilia Law to withdraw Costa Rica from the Central American Federation. In 1838, the second Chief of State, Braulio Carrillo, officially declared Costa Rica a sovereign state. However, in 1842, the new General Assembly claimed that the Costa Rica was still a part of the Federation. Costa Rica’s four main cities – San Jose, Heredia, Alajuela and Cartago – argued for years over whether to accept Federation membership or declare freedom. In 1848, the decision was made and Costa Rica again declared itself a sovereign nation.
So, even though the official date of independence is in 1821, Costa Rica had basically been on it’s own for some time due to Spain’s lack of economical, political and even religious interest in this very poor region.
That date is still celebrated as Independence Day in Costa Rica, even though, technically, under the Spanish Constitution of 1812 that had been readopted in 1820, Nicaragua and Costa Rica had become an autonomous province with its capital in León.
- 668 – Eastern Roman Emperor Constans II is assassinated in his bath at Syracuse, Italy.
- 921 – At Tetin, Saint Ludmila is murdered at the command of her daughter-in-law.
- 994 – Major Fatimid victory over the Byzantine Empire at the Battle of the Orontes.
- 1254 – Marco Polo, Italian merchant and explorer, born (died 1324).
- 1440 – Gilles de Rais, one of the earliest known serial killers, is taken into custody upon an accusation brought against him by the Bishop of Nantes.
- 1556 – Departing from Vlissingen, ex-Holy Roman Emperor Charles V returns to Spain.
- 1616 – The first non-aristocratic, free public school in Europe is opened in Frascati, Italy.
- 1762 – Seven Years’ War: Battle of Signal Hill.
- 1776 – American Revolutionary War: British forces land at Kip’s Bay during the New York Campaign.
- 1789 – The United States “Department of Foreign Affairs”, established by law in July, is renamed the Department of State and given a variety of domestic duties.
- 1812 – The French army under Napoleon reaches the Kremlin in Moscow.
- 1812 – War of 1812: A second supply train sent to relieve Fort Harrison is ambushed in the Attack at the Narrows.
- 1816 – HMS Whiting runs aground on the Doom Bar
- 1820 – Constitutionalist revolution in Lisbon, Portugal.
- 1821 – Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica jointly declare independence from Spain.
- 1830 – The Liverpool to Manchester railway line opens.
- 1831 – The locomotive John Bull operates for the first time in New Jersey on the Camden and Amboy Railroad.
- 1835 – HMS Beagle, with Charles Darwin aboard, reaches the Galápagos Islands. The ship lands at Chatham or San Cristobal, the easternmost of the archipelago.
- 1851 – Saint Joseph’s University is founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
- 1862 – American Civil War: Confederate forces capture Harpers Ferry, Virginia.
- 1873 – Franco-Prussian War: The last German troops leave France upon completion of payment of indemnity.
- 1894 – First Sino-Japanese War: Japan defeats Qing dynasty China in the Battle of Pyongyang.1916 – World War I: Tanks are used for the first time in battle, at the Battle of the Somme.
- 1918 – World War I:The Battle of Dobro Pole is fought, Entente troops break through the Bulgarian defenses on the Macedonian Front eventually liberating Vardar Macedonia and forcing Bulgaria to sign the Armistice of Salonica.
- 1935 – The Nuremberg Laws deprive German Jews of citizenship.
- 1935 – Nazi Germany adopts a new national flag bearing the swastika.
- 1940 – World War II: The climax of the Battle of Britain, when the Royal Air Force shoots down large numbers of Luftwaffe aircraft.
- 1942 – World War II: U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Wasp is sunk by a Japanese torpedo at Guadalcanal.
- 1944 – Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill meet in Quebec as part of the Octagon Conference to discuss strategy.
- 1944 – Battle of Peleliu begins as the United States Marine Corps’ 1st Marine Division and the United States Army’s 81st Infantry Division hit White and Orange beaches under heavy fire from Japanese infantry and artillery.
- 1945 – A hurricane in southern Florida and the Bahamas destroys 366 planes and 25 blimps at NAS Richmond.
- 1947 – RCA releases the 12AX7 vacuum tube.
- 1947 – Typhoon Kathleen hit the Kanto Region in Japan killing 1,077.
- 1948 – The F-86 Sabre sets the world aircraft speed record at 671 miles per hour (1,080 km/h).
- 1950 – Korean War: United States forces land at Inchon
- 1952 – The United Nations cedes Eritrea to Ethiopia.
- 1958 – A Central Railroad of New Jersey commuter train runs through an open drawbridge at the Newark Bay, killing 48.
- 1959 – Nikita Khrushchev becomes the first Soviet leader to visit the United States.
- 1961 – Hurricane Carla strikes Texas with winds of 175 miles per hour.
- 1962 – The Soviet ship Poltava heads toward Cuba, one of the events that sets into motion the Cuban Missile Crisis.
- 1963 – 16th Street Baptist Church bombing: Four children killed at an African-American church in Birmingham, Alabama, United States
- 1966 – U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson, responding to a sniper attack at the University of Texas at Austin, writes a letter to Congress urging the enactment of gun control legislation.
- 1968 – The Soviet Zond 5 spaceship is launched, becoming the first spacecraft to fly around the Moon and re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere.
- 1971 – The first Greenpeace ship set sail to protest against nuclear testing.
- 1972 – A Scandinavian Airlines System domestic flight from Gothenburg to Stockholm is hijacked and flown to Malmö-Bulltofta Airport.
- 1974 – Air Vietnam Flight 706 is hijacked, then crashes while attempting to land with 75 on board.
- 1975 – The French department of “Corse” (the entire island of Corsica) is divided into two: Haute-Corse (Upper Corsica) and Corse-du-Sud (Southern Corsica)
- 1978 – Muhammad Ali outpointed Leon Spinks in a rematch to become the first boxer to win the world heavyweight title three times at the Superdome in New Orleans.
- 1981 – The Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously approves Sandra Day O’Connor to become the first female justice of the Supreme Court of the United States
- 1981 – The John Bull becomes the oldest operable steam locomotive in the world when the Smithsonian Institution operates it under its own power outside Washington, D.C.
- 1981 – Vanuatu becomes a member of the United Nations.
- 1983 – Israeli premier Menachem Begin resigns.
- 1987 – United States Secretary of State George Shultz and Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze sign a treaty to establish centers to reduce the risk of nuclear war.
- 1990 – France announces it will send 4,000 troops to the Persian Gulf.
- 1993 – Liechtenstein Prince Hans-Adam II disbands Parliament
- 1998 – With the landmark merger of WorldCom and MCI Communications completed the day prior, the new MCI WorldCom opens its doors for business.
- 2000 – The Games of the XXVII Olympiad begin in Sydney, Australia.
- 2004 – National Hockey League commissioner Gary Bettman announces lockout of the players union and cessation of operations by the NHL head office.
- 2008 – Lehman Brothers files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the largest bankruptcy filing in U.S. history.
List compiled by http://www.laht.com
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