Celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month: Gabriela Mistral, first Latina to win the Nobel Prize in Literature

Lucila Godoy Alcayaga, born April 7, 1889 in Chile, is best known by her pseudonym Gabriela Mistral, and is the first Latin-American to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature.  When she was 15, she published her first poems in a local newspaper.  

Following several personal tragedies, Mistral channeled her grief into her writing and she produced her first literary work, which was placed first in a national literary contest in Santiago, Chile.  

She released her first book, Desolacion, with aid from Frederico de Onis, the Director of Hispanic Institute of New York in 1922. 

In November 1945, she became the first Latin American and fifth woman to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature.

Gabriela passed away from pancreatic cancer in New York City in January 1957.

Celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month: Philip Bazaar, Civil War Hispanic Medal of Honor recipient

Philip Bazaar, a Chilean-born American, was a US Navy seaman in the Civil War and was awarded the Medal of Honor, the highest military decoration in the US. 

He joined the Union Navy in Massachusetts and was assigned to the USS Santiago de Cuba, a wooden, side-wheel steamship commanded by Rear Admiral David Porter.

In late 1864, General Grant ordered an assault on Fort Fisher, a Confederate stronghold, in North Carolina.  Rear Admiral Porter was in charge of the naval attack.  When that failed, a Grant ordered a second assault in January 1865.  Bazaar carried dispatches during the battle, experiencing heavy fire from the Confederates to Major General Terry, in charge of the ground assault.

According to his citation:  

"On board the U.S.S. Santiago de Cuba during the assault on Fort Fisher on 15 January 1865. As one of a boat crew detailed to one of the generals on shore, O.S. Bazaar bravely entered the fort in the assault and accompanied his party in carrying dispatches at the height of the battle. He was 1 of 6 men who entered the fort in the assault from the fleet."

Venera 3 launched to Venus 1965

Venera 3, launched November 16, 1965 by the Soviet Union to Venus, is the first spacecraft to (crash)land on another planet.  Venera 3's communications system failed about 17 days before it reached Venus.  It is believed to have entered the Venusian atmosphere March 1, 1966.

Thirty-one years to the day later, the Russians launched Mars 8, November 16, 1996 to Mars, but the spacecraft failed and re-entered Earth's atmosphere.  So instead of landing on Mars, it crashlanded on Chile, Bolivia and in the Pacific Ocean.