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| image courtesy of hallofstamps.blogspot.com |
For example, I recently learned about how Belize became part of Britain during the Battle of St. George's Caye. For seven days ending on September 10th 1798 the Spanish tried to take Belize but were unsuccessful and the country became part of the British Commonwealth. I don't think anyone was killed in this battle.
The country gained independence in 1964 but back then it was known as British Honduras. It didn't officially become Belize until 1973.
There is also a lot of Mayan history in Belize. The Maya people lived in and around Belize mainly from 1500 BC - 800 AD but some continue to live here now and it seems the whole culture still fascinates millions of people around the world.
The Maya seem like pretty interesting people but a little creepy. They thought that caves were the underworld and they would enter the caves to bring peace offerings and sacrifices to the Gods. There was a drought at one time and as life got really rough for the Maya people, they went deeper and deeper into the caves and they resorted to human sacrifices, including children. It was common in Mesoamerican history to offer child sacrifices to the rain gods.
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| photo from Belize.com |
Speaking of rain, another interesting fact worth including is Hurricane Hattie (1961) which was the second tropical storm to hit coastal Belize City in thirty years and destroyed 75% of the buildings there so the government decided to move everything to safer ground. Belmopan which is 50 miles inland and 250 ft above sea level was chosen for the new capital.
This is a picture of Caye Caulker which was literally split in half by Hattie... this "split" as we call it is the greatest for swimming and snorkeling. You can usually find us there on really hot, sunny days.
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| image courtesy of ambergriscaye.com |
