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Discussing the settlement of new colonies, eighteenth century British naval captain Thomas Walduck noted that ‘upon all new settlements the Spaniards make the first thing they do is build a church. The first thing ye Dutch do upon a colony is to build them a fort.’ What did he describe as the first thing English…

The USS Panay was an American gunboat sunk by the Japanese while anchored in the Yangtze River. What was unusual about when this actually took place?