On this Day...

[News Crew]

On this date in the year 1579, Francis Drake landed in present day California and claimed the area for Great Britain under the name New Albion.  Here is an excerpt from WIKIPEDIA (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page) describing the event:On 17 June 1579, Drake landed somewhere north of Spain's northern-most claim at Point Loma (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Point_Loma). He found a good port, landed, repaired and restocked his vessels, then stayed for a time, keeping friendly relations with the natives. He claimed the land in the name of the Holy Trinity (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trinity) for the English Crown as called Nova Albion (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nova_Albion) â€” Latin (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latin) for "New Britain". Assertions that he left some of his men behind as an embryo "colony" are founded merely on the reduced number who were with him in the Moluccas (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maluku_Islands).Whitehall Palace (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitehall_Palace) burned in 1698. A bronze plaque (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drake%27s_Plate_of_Brass) inscribed with Drake's claim to the new lands, fitting the description in Drake's own account, was discovered in Marin County (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marin_County), California (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California), but was later declared a hoax. Another location often claimed to be Nova Albion is Whale Cove (Oregon) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whale_Cove_(Oregon)), although to date there is no evidence to suggest this, other than a general resemblance to a single map penned a decade after the landing.  You can read more about his discovery and more on Drake's life HERE (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Drake) 

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