Kitesurf: surfing the wind over water

SPORTS

The game is set in a man's life by several main reasons : first is an important activity that keeps the body and mind sharp and young. On the other , it is a social excuse to get together with friends or make new groups. However, there is a reason that happens , perhaps most unnoticed but no less important : it is a major supplier of adrenaline. In an effort to find new limits for this search, someone had mixed paragliding and surfing to create a new activity and is passion in many parts of the world : the kitesurf.

Kitesurfing is a sport that involves sliding the use of a traction kite (kite , English ) , stretching the athlete and attached to the body by a harness , allowing hydroplane using a table or a ski Wakeboard type designed for this purpose. Why flying the kite? There is a particular strength that allows : lift . In a fluid (in this case air) pressure and a constant speed , this means that where the flow velocity increases the pressure decreases. Let's see how this affects the aircraft wings , birds and paragliding. As you can see in the illustration, the wing profile is not symmetrical , as the air around him which is on the bottom goes almost without deviation , however the passing overhead has to travel more distance , if you want to get to trailing edge while passing beneath the need to increase its speed. By the above principle the pressure at the top decreases and increases in the lower part . Complicated, but it happens.

Although this sport so is rather recent , it has been known since ancient times in China and Indonesia were used kites to pull small boats. Not , however, until 1977 when Adrianus Gijsbertus Panhuise patented a navigation system on a surfboard for a type of parasailing, becoming the father of the sport. In Indonesia is a culture and an art, the designs are many and varied, in these places you can find the kiteboarding industry . It is also a great place to train and develop the material , this along with the cheap labor and industrial development of this area puts a pioneer in the development of Kiteboarding .

Started in sport. To begin this sport experts recommend doing an introductory course where they teach a first contact with the material , and since it is a dangerous sport , you need at least a basic safety and rescue procedures to resolve situations breakage of material fall from the kite , etc. . This sport in inexperienced hands can be dangerous, but well practiced is a very exciting sport that huge adrenaline rush .

In an introductory course , there is usually a theoretical security , flight window , etc. . and a practical part , which begins in the sand with a trainer kite , which makes contact with the force of the kite in the different positions of the window of flight and its behavior depending on the speed . Procedure to raise and lower the kite loose . Then you get into water and practice the " body drag " movement in the water without the board , this technique allows to recover the water table , then practice the " waterstart" output from the water table

I leave you a picture that might scare more than one who wants to start in sport ... Truth or Fiction ?

Great Blue Hole: the mysterious eye of the ocean

NATURAL WONDERS

No matter how much we have traveled or traveled the world , how much Internet or general culture blogs have visited , the nature is saved thousands of wonderful places and secrets reserved for . Some are famous and commercially exploited as the Iguazu Falls . Others, such as the Blue Hole, that we present today , remains a mystery to most people .

A blue holeis an underwater cave or sink . They are also called vertical caves . Blue holes are roughly circular , steep-walled, and named for the dramatic contrast between the dark blue of the deep water and the lighter blue of the shallows around them . Water circulation is poor, and its waters are commonly anoxic below a certain depth and this environment is unfavorable for most sea life , but life can allow a large number of bacteria. The deepest blue hole in the world is the Blue Hole Dean with a depth of 202 meters. It is situated in a bay west of Clarence Town on Long Island, in the Bahamas.

Blue holes formed during past ice ages , when sea level was about 100-150 meters lower than today. At that time , these formations were subject to chemical weathering common in all limestone -rich soils , which ended once immersed at the end of the ice age . Blue holes typically found in carbonate platforms shallow .

One of the most famous in the world is the Great Blue Hole off the coast of Belize . It is located near the center of Lighthouse Reef , a small atoll located 100 kilometers from the mainland and Belize City. The hole is circular in shape , and has more than 300 meters wide and 123 meters deep. As the ocean began to rise again , the caves were flooded , and the roof collapsed . Is believed to be the world's biggest phenomenon of its kind, the Great Blue Hole is part of the System of Reserves Belize Barrier Reef , World Heritage United Nations Educational , Scientific and Cultural Organization ( UNESCO) . It's a great place for diving but is for advanced people who do not fear the presence of sharks ! If some brave soul wants to try it , please contact: www.aquascubabelize.com

Pearl Harbor: awaken the giant

HISTORY

For a civil man , it is often difficult to understand the rationale of military strategy . To an ignorant on the subject as who writes , makes absolutely no sense the act in Japan during the Pearl Harbor attack . Except ... unless the official historical facts are hiding part of the story . Perhaps the Japanese already knew it was imminent entry of the United States into the war and its action was defensive , seeking to delay the American attack . Or maybe they were just crazy ... Again, apologize for my ignorance .

The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military offensive conducted by the Imperial Japanese Navy against the naval base of the United States at Pearl Harbor , Hawaii, on the morning of December 7, 1941 . The attack was intended as a preventive action taken to eliminate the intervention of the Pacific Fleet of the United States military actions the Empire of Japan was planning in Southeast Asia perform against overseas territories of the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and the United States itself (or at least that's the official story ) .

The naval base was attacked by more than 300 Japanese aircraft including fighter jets , bombers and torpedo bombers that took off six portaaviones.Resultaron damaged eight U.S. battleships stationed in the port , and four of them were sunk . Of these eight , two were refloated and four repaired , so that six could re-enter service later in the war. The Japanese attack also sank or damaged three cruisers, three destroyers , one minelayer and training ship . The Americans lost 188 aircraft , killed 2402 Americans and 1282 were injured in varying degrees . However, the Japanese attacked the power station, shipyard , maintenance facilities , fuel tanks and torpedoes , submarine docks and the building of the headquarters and the intelligence section . The Japanese lost 29 aircraft and five midget submarines , as well as military casualties suffered 65 killed and wounded . Also, a Japanese sailor was captured alive .

The attack deeply shocked American people and led directly to the U.S. entry into World War II in both theaters of war in Europe and the Pacific. The day after the attack , December 8 , the United States declared war on the Empire of Japan . Domestic support in North America to non- intervention in the global conflict , which had been strong , disappeared while clandestine assistance to the UK was replaced by a full alliance . Subsequent operations led the American nation that declared war Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy on December 11 , which was reciprocated by the U.S. the next day.

There are numerous historical precedents for military attack without a declaration of war by Japan . However, the absence of a formal declaration by the Japanese while negotiations were taking place that seemed to prosper led President Franklin D. Roosevelt to qualify for the December 7, 1941 as "a date which will live in infamy ."

Tequila: a toast to this mexican invention

FOOD&DRINKS
The man investigates sources of carbohydrates and sugars to try to obtain a new formulation of an alcoholic beverage. We get famous malt distilled spirits (whiskey ) , grapes ( cognac ) to even the Pope ( Vodka ) . No less striking is perhaps the case of Mexicans , that plant expected at least get one of the fastest growing beverage business in recent decades . Know more tequila : its history and manufacture.
Mexico agave tequila is a distillate from the municipality of Tequila in the state of Jalisco , Mexico . It is made from fermented and distilled like mezcal , agave juice extracted , in particular the so-called blue agave . It is perhaps the most popular drink and representative of Mexico in the world. To be called tequila, the drink must be made ​​in Mexico and contain at least 51 % of sugars from the agave , although the purest tequilas are 100 % agave . In the mixed tequilas , agave syrup mixed with corn or sugar cane .
Mexicola story tequila Tequila unknown history . Tequila is from Jalisco , according to serious researchers . No municipality can claim to be the " origin of tequila " . Mezcal - Wine is now known as tequila was already produced in the Province of Avalos (now Ciudad Guzman ) since 1616 , as stated in a document from the file of the Archdiocese of Guadalajara. In this region also traded mezcales - agave - between Indians and Spanish , as stated in the document .
However, and for a more accurate historical truth so it's up to the origin of tequila , it should be noted that the tequila or mescal or mezcal was simply an invention of colonial and indigenous , from the moment that it is a distillate . In pre-Hispanic America , distillation was unknown physical process . The Spanish encomenderos of the first third of the sixteenth century Indian labor used for all tasks but this condition is not sufficient to attribute to the ancient Mexicans the invention of agave spirits . In ancient Mexico , the cooked agave was just a sweet food . The only pre-Hispanic drink pulque agave was that at some time after the Conquest was the basis for some Spanish entrepreneurs to prepare a distillate called " rabbit blood ."
Its development . The most important unit operations that occur in the process of making Tequila , are:
Jima is separated from the leaves of agave pineapple when it has reached the proper development.
Hydrolysis: The hydrolysis is required for simple sugars (mainly fructose) . For this, it is mainly used a thermal process . At this stage there are many compounds that determine the profile of the final product .
Extraction : the sugars contained in the cones of agave must be separated from the fiber, this extraction is commonly performed with a combination of wrenching and a train of rolling mills . Currently , it is common to use diffusers that make the operation efficient .
According to the Official Mexican Standard for Tequila , tequila maker can produce two categories of Tequila , which are 100 % Agave Tequila and Tequila respectively ( up to 49 % with other sugars ) .
Fermentation: in this stage , the sugars present in the must are transformed by the action of yeast , into ethyl alcohol and carbon dioxide .
Distillation: After the fermentation phase , it is necessary to musts distillation process of separating the constituents of the wort.
The product obtained from the first cycle is commonly known as ordinary , this product is subjected to a second cycle or correction finally getting Tequila.

Chichen Itza: heart of the Maya

PLACES
Every civilization must possess to be named as such an urban center where there raised their best buildings , have lived their best players and their culture has survived above . As for the Incas, Machu Picchu , Chichen Itza was a major city that surprisingly survived the passage of time to be a witness of what was once a great and wonderful Native American civilization . While it did ( as usual ) for several years numerous " looting " Today is protected by the Mexican government . Chichen Itza , a jewel.
Chichen Itza is one of the major archaeological sites of the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico , located in the municipality of Tinum , in the state of Yucatan. Important and renowned relic of the Mayan civilization , the main buildings there remain correspond to the time of the decline of Mayan culture known to archaeologists as the post-classical period .
The massive architecture that has survived until today and today is emblematic of the site, has a distinct Toltec influence . The god who presides over the site , according to Mayan mythology , is Kukulcan Mayan representation of Quetzalcoatl , god made ​​the Toltec culture pantheon . That said , consider that Chichen Itza was a city or a ceremonial center , which went through various periods constructive and influences of different peoples that occupied and that boosted since its founding.
Chichen Itza Mayan culture observatorioLa mexico Chichen Itza archaeological site was inscribed on the World Heritage List by UNESCO in 1988. The July 7, 2007 , was recognized as one of the New Seven Wonders of the Modern World , by private initiative without the support of Unesco , but with the recognition of millions of voters around the world.
His story : Chichén Itzá was founded around 525 AD , during "the first drop or fall small eastern referring chronicles " for the chanes of Bacalar (later called Itza ) and later still Cocomes . They set up their capital.
Toward the end of the Late Classic period , in the ninth century , Chichen became one of the most important political centers Mayab land . For the beginning of the Postclassic ( from 900 to 1500 ) , the city had established itself as the main center of power in the Yucatan Peninsula.
Mayan Chichen Itza buildings show a large number of architectural and iconographic elements that some historians have called mexicanized . The truth is that it is visible the influence of cultures from the Mexican plateau , and mixing with the Puuc style , from the heights of the peninsula , the Classic Maya architecture . The presence of these elements from the cultures of the highlands were conceived a few years ago as a result of a mass migration or conquest of the Mayan city by Toltec groups . However, more recent studies suggest they may have been the cultural expression of a political system widespread and prestigious during the early Postclassic Mesoamerica .

Chichen Itza in the post- Maya. In the sixteenth century the Spanish conquistador Francisco de Montejo and the Franciscan Diego de Landa , made ​​the first visits of Europeans in the area and gave a detailed account of the existence of the city.
Chichen Itza Mayan mexico saqueoEn 1840 John Lloyd Stephens and Frederick Catherwood visited the archaeological site of Chichen Itza, in that time the area was within the estate of the same name that belonged to Juan Sosa . In 1894 , Edward Herbert Thompson purchased the Hacienda Chichén- Itzá , conducted studies and explorations in the area, especially in the sacred cenote . During this work many objects found were inadvertently sent to the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology at Harvard University but later , due to the intervention of the Mexican government , some of the objects were returned. This was a time of looting of one of the most important treasures of Mexican history .
When Thompson died in 1935 the estate passed to his heirs although the control and jurisdiction , and the systematic exploration and maintenance of extensive archaeological site is run by provision of law , the National Institute of Anthropology and History, the agency Mexican federal government

Fulgencio Batista: democracy by force

HISTORICAL CHARACTERS
For some politicians of the twentieth century , democracy is the best system of government as long as the chosen is always him. Otherwise , you will always find a way to convince ( by hook or by crook ) that the village was wrong with his decision and that for the common good have to take power at any cost . Examples and in Latin America, there were many, all eventually fell. The Cuban case is perhaps one of the most memorable in history, Fulgencio Batista , the protagonist . That is the people and history to judge his actions.
Fulgencio Batista y Zaldivar was a military and Cuban politician , President of Cuba between 1940-1944 and de facto in 1952-1959 , known as " The Man."
His beginnings in power the fall of Machado in 1933 , participated in several conspiracies that led to the Civil- Military Movement September 4 of that year. It also established a Board of Governors , the call Pentarchy ( consisting of 5 members, one of them Dr. Ramón Grau ) . A proposal Sergio Carbó , Batista was appointed Colonel -in-Chief of the Army in that same 1934-1940 año.De went down hard repression of communist and socialist movements of the sugar mills .
Having resigned in 1940 Federico Laredo Bru , Batista is a candidate of the Democratic Socialist Coalition in the 1940 elections , and was elected president , inaugurating his term on October 10, 1940 . On June 8 of that year approved a new constitution , introduced in practice one semiparlamentarismo Cuban policy , the President was elected by universal suffrage for a term of four years, also enhanced the government intervention in the economy and introduced a Social Security network . Fulfilled its mandate leaves the government after new elections at the hands of Ramon Grau San Martin.
The end of democracy . After eight years of a government under the presidency of Ramón Grau San Martin and Carlos Prio , Batista was a candidate in the 1952 elections . However, as some of the surveys placed him third, on March 10, 1952 , just four months of the presidential election , gave back a coup , claiming a number of justifiable reasons not using his leadership within the armed forces and being supported by certain political sectors . In the process of the coup bloodshed brought not one but attracted the attention and concern of much of the population. Batista 's government respected the rights of American industry and the Cuban trade . However, corruption was huge and the people were starving.
Revolution and fled : His overthrow by the Cuban Revolution (whose extensive topic discussed in a single post ) took place on January 1, 1959 and was promoted by Fidel Castro. Defeated and no prospect of support, Batista fled the country with a fortune approaching U.S. $ 100 million , exiling first in the Dominican Republic , then on the island of Madeira (Portugal ) and finally in Spain , until his death in 1973 to cause of a heart attack in the town of Marbella .

Davis Cup: play for the love of your country

SPORTS
Professional sports , including tennis, have a clear goal, to make money . If it is true that also seeks to add trophies, grow in the rankings and become famous , but all as a way to have more sponsors , play in tournaments and the top end ... earn more and more money. But there is a small glimmer of hope that keeps the essence of pure sport . A cup where the individual is shelved for teamwork ... and not the 4 or 5 players that form but of the millions of people living in a nation and these athletes delegated the responsibility to defend his jersey , no prize without individual fame. This is the Davis Cup.The Davis Cup is an international tennis competition , organized by the International Tennis Federation (ITF ) . Unlike most tennis events worldwide, in the Davis Cup players involved not individually , but national teams for various players nominated by their national federation sports . The Davis Cup , held since 1900 , is a men-only tournament , with the Fed Cup equivalent for female players .
It is the largest annual sporting event counting with 125 existing different national teams during its 2010 edition . The exercise is champion Czech Republic won its second title in the competition after winning the 2012 Davis Cup 3-2 to Spain .
A little history . The Davis Cup is named after its creator, Dwight Filley Davis , tennis player and politician born in 1879 . Davis conceived the idea of ​​creating a national team competition in which the best U.S. will face a team from the British Isles. The first meeting was prepared in 1905 at the Longwood Cricket Club in Brookline , just outside Boston , winning the British Americans 3-0 . Davis , who played with the U.S. team , donated the money for the development of a silver cup , to a design by Rowland Rhodes based on a punch bowl topped with flower ornaments 33 cm high and 43 cm in diameter. Inside this bowl was recorded misnamed the tournament name " International Lawn Tennis Challenge Trophy" , and in his left side listed the names of the participants. The competition had an unexpected continuity and from 1945 , the year he died Davis ( November 28 ) , was renamed the Davis Cup .
The custom of record names Cup finalists and winners , and the fact that it is delivered in property missing soon made room for new entries . In 1921 , Davis won a silver tray of 95 cm in diameter punch bowl base , which were recorded by the end of 1921-1933 . When it was full , they built a wooden base with name plates continued enrollment of 34 editions . In 1969 it was necessary to add a second base, wider than space available until 2002 , when it added a third .

Quicksands: the trap of nature

SCIENCEThe land is generally associated with a safe place, a space in which while we are there, everything is fine, no danger. Examples are the sayings "keep our feet on the earth", "land in sight!", "The plane touched down." But what nobody told or had in mind is that not all land is a guarantee of stability. Various physical effects combine to transform what looks like a safe portion of sustenance into a dangerous trap and exit difficult.
Quicksand colloid is a hydrogel consisting of a mixture of fine-grained materials (such as sand), clay and water.
The quicksand when they are disturbed by an outside agent, usually appears as a solid, but the slightest change in the stresses in the sand causes a sudden decrease in its viscosity. After the initial disturbance, as may be the fact that a person to walk on them, water and sand are separated, forming sand sedimented dense regions, this is due to the formation of areas consisting of large volumes of matter with different size , so that the viscosity of the quicksand appears suddenly increased. There is a false belief that attributes the quicksand to desert areas, but the truth is that they are not present in any desert mainly by the lack of moisture.
To move in the quicksand should apply enough pressure in the sand condensed and enter the required amount of water to be able to liquefy. The force required to get out of them is too important to move one foot in the quicksand at a speed of one centimeter per second requires the same force that you have to invest to build a midsize car!.
Quicksand can be found in inland along rivers, near lakes, or in marshes, or near the region costa.Una notoriously famous for its quicksands is Morecambe Bay, England. As the bay is wide and shallow, a person caught in quicksand would be exposed to the danger of the tide.
Quicksand has different forms. Some seem mud, others have the appearance of water with soil, leaves or debris on it and some have a combination of sand and soil in a large puddle of water.
In the movies has become popular to see a person completely swallowed by quicksand, causing it to die. The reality is different, as scientists have shown that the shifting sands have little depth and consistency fully capable of holding a floating weight, making it impossible for someone to die sucked into them. The real danger lies in not being able to leave them and starvation, heat or exhaustion, or indeed drowned in the water to climb a nearby tide. Furthermore, it is a complete lie the classic way to save with a stick or a tree, as there are many ways to get out of quicksand.

Amazon River: irrigating life in earth

NATURAL WONDERS
In a crowded world, where development requires the preservation of nature, it is imperative to the existence of wilderness areas where the Earth can preserve its natural and pristine. Many times we talk about the Amazon as the "lungs of the world" for its huge plant life extensions that allow pollution recycle oxygen. In a metaphor perhaps a little poetic but certainly representative: if the forest is the lung, the Amazon River are the bronchi.
The Amazon River is a large and mighty waterway located in South America. Travel the continent from west to east, from the peaks of the Andes in Peru to the Atlantic coast of Brazil. It has a length of 6800 km, making it the longest and mightiest river in the world. The Amazon basin is also the largest watershed on the planet surface, which supports the Amazon rainforest.
There are several theories about the origin of its name: it is thought that the word "Amazon" was given by Francisco de Orellana after facing a local ethnic group in which men and women are equally defended. Orellana derived the name from the Greek myth of the Amazon warriors of Asia and Africa, narrated by Herodotus and Diodorus. However, it is very likely that the word Amazon was a false friend paronomásico deformation of an Indian word whose pronunciation to Spanish ears was like "Amazon" Indian word meaning "breaker of boats", this marayoara especially among which could see the tremendous pounding that leads to contact this river at its mouth on the Atlantic Ocean.
Amazon traditionally assigned to second in length, behind the Nile, although there has never been a general consensus on what are the measuring points acceptable. The latest research, some 740 km further added the channel, which would place him definitely in the top of the ranking of the world's longest rivers.
The Amazon carries more water than the Mississippi, the Nile and the Yangtze together, its drainage area or basin is also the largest in the world. The volume of water carried to the Atlantic is enormous: with an annual average of 230 000 m³ / s, reaching up to 300 000 m³ / s in the rainy season. Indeed, Amazon is responsible for a fifth of all the fresh water added to the oceans of Earth. In addition, the water is perfectly drinkable offshore the mouth to a distance from the coast which is no longer visible. Atlantic Ocean salinity is considerably lower within several thousand miles around this point to the north of its mouth: it should be remembered that in this area the sea currents bring salt water into the mouth and not the reverse.
All flora and fauna of the humid intertropical American rainforest is present in the Amazon. There are countless species of plants, thousands of species of birds, amphibians and countless millions of insects still unclassified. The fauna is very varied, from the smallest insects to large mammals like the jaguar, puma, tapir and several species of deer. There are also reptiles such as turtles, caimans, alligators and snakes. There birds and fish of all species, feathers and scales. Even identified a pink dolphin species unique in the world

After cross it in one of his expeditions, the famous oceanographer Jacques-Yves Cousteau went on to state that "there are more species of fish in the Amazon than in the Atlantic Ocean"

Fernando Botero: the beauty of different

ART
Beauty is often symbiotic social custom of the time. So, 100 years ago a fat women would define a beautiful woman. More modern, extreme thinness and tanned skin are synonymous desirable woman. But in art there is something else: the beauty transcends popular opinion and the passage of time and to find the metaphorical art of Fernando Botero a legacy started 50 years ago and that remains today.
Fernando Botero Angulo is a painter, sculptor and draftsman Colombian. World art icon, extensive work is recognized by children and adults alike everywhere. It is considered living artist originally from Latin America's most recognized and quoted the world.
The work of authorship is imprinted with an original contemporary figurative style Neo-Renaissance, known by some as "Boterismo" which gives it an unmistakable identity and moving to, and is characterized by the interpretation given by the artist to various universal themes ( man, woman, man, feelings, passions, etc.) with a volumetric exalted, that permeates a special three-dimensional character, as well as strength and sensuality to the work, with particular anatomical conception, an aesthetic that might fit chronologically between thirty to forty years in the West, on topics that may be contemporary or past, but with universal, with lively and masterful use of color in the style of the Venetian Renaissance school and fine details of scathing criticism, irony and subtlety.
Since its inception Botero has turned to genre scenes, initially with a dark colored brushstrokes (with occasional strong contrasts) close to expressionism and from the late sixties, has used a touch closed, with figures and more defined contours.
In his recent work, Botero has used thematically to the political situation in Colombia and the world. For example, the series of "Abu Ghraib" consists of 78 pictures that try to represent the horrors of torture and war related to the U.S. invasion of Iraq and the events of Abu Ghraib Prison from of the statements of the people there tortured.
 






Other works of the artist:

 

 

Battle of the Alamo: until the last drops dead

HISTORY
In every conflict there is an event that functions as a turning point. It may not be the one that determines the final result, but one that modifies the statuo quo, and causes an abrupt change enough to alter the winner. A large contingent of Mexican army besieged for 13 days Texian resistance in a building that would become famous over time: the Alamo. I can not encourage me to judge any of the two sides, as each sought to defend what he considered his own, but without doubt, the Alamo is held up as a symbol of the resistance of a group of brave men who chose to die but not leave their cause.
The Battle of the Alamo was a military conflict crucial in the Texas Revolution which consisted of a siege of 13 days, since its inception on February 23 until the final assault of March 6, 1836, and faced the army of Mexico , led by President Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, against a secessionist militia Texans, mostly American settlers (naturalized Mexican) in San Antonio de Bexar in Mexican province of Coahuila and Texas. All belligerents in favor of the Republic of Texas were killed, except for two people, which inspired many settlers and adventurers Texans-Americans-to join the army of Texas, desirous of revenge, from the cruelty shown by Santa Anna during the siege, the Texans defeated the Mexican Army at the Battle of San Jacinto, on April 21, 1836, ending the revolutionary movement.
Several months prior, Texians had taken all federal troops out of the Coahuila and Texas, approximately 100 Texans then garrisoned at the Alamo. The Texian force grew slightly with the arrival of reinforcements led eventually by the co-commanders James Bowie and William Barret Travis. On February 23, approximately 1500 Mexican soldiers marched into San Antonio de Bexar, site currently sits San Antonio, as the first step in a campaign to retake Texas. For the next 12 days, the two armies were involved in several skirmishes with minimal casualties. Aware that his garrison could not withstand the attack of such a large force, Travis wrote several letters asking for more men and supplies, but only 100 reinforcements arrived.
On the morning of March 6, the Mexican Army advanced on the Alamo, after rejecting two attacks, Texians were unable to fend off a third. Because Mexican soldiers scaled the walls, most Texans soldiers fled to the interior buildings. Defenders unable to reach these points were slain by the Mexican cavalry as they attempt to escape. It is likely that a small group of Texans (five to seven of them) had been surrendered; yet these were executed instantly. Most eyewitness accounts reported from between 182 and 257 Texians dead, while most historians of the Alamo agree that there were between 400 and 600 Mexican soldiers wounded or killed in combat. In the end, many noncombatants were sent to Gonzales to spread the word of the Texian defeat. The news sparked panic and the Texian forces-settlers-most of the new Republic of Texas fled from the advancing Mexican army.

In the nineteenth century, in Texas, the Alamo complex gradually became know as the place of battle. The Texas Legislature purchased the land and buildings in the early part of the twentieth century and designated the Alamo chapel as Texas State Shrine. The Alamo is now the most popular tourist site in Texas. It has also been the subject of numerous non-fiction works from 1843.