Calixto García Íñiguez, born on this day in 1836, was a general in three separate Cuban uprisings for independence - the Ten Years' War, the Little War, and the War of 1895, which bled into the Spanish-American War.
García joined the Ten Years' War at the age of 18. Five years later, when surrounded by Spanish troops, he shot himself under the chin with a .45 caliber pistol to not give them the satisfaction of capturing him. Although the bullet went out of his forehead and knocked him unconscious, he survived. The wound left a great scar and gave him headaches for the rest of his life.
García played a key role in the ultimately successful War of 1895 and protested the subsequent lack of Cuban autonomy in the conclusion of the war (no Cuban was allowed to sign the terms of surrender and the Spanish leaders in Cuba were allowed to keep their posts in Santiago).
After American military commander William Shafter excluded Cubans from negotiations for the surrender of Santiago, declined to invite García to the surrender ceremonies, and let Spanish authorities remain in control of Santiago until the U.S. could establish a military government, García resigned from the rebel army in protest on July 17th, 1898.
García died of pneumonia on December 11th, 1898 while on a diplomatic mission in Washington, D.C. Today, his portrait is on the 50 Cuban peso banknote.
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I'm really surprised by other peoples' interpretations of the ending of Roadside Picnic
spoiler
I thought it was obvious - that despite everything he gave up, even though life had shat so hard on Red, even though things had jaded him and made him cynical, he still really had that small piece of himself that just wanted happiness for everyone (he still rescued the vulture, I think he was at his core a good person living in a very crazy-making time). I think watching that kid die, setting the kid up to die, changed him in ways he didn't understand until he did it and he really just wanted what the kid wanted underneath all the accumulated much and wounds that living his life dealt himPeople online were saying he just gets brainwashed by the sphere and just stands there and dies to the meat grinder. Or that the sphere granted his wish - that he had some good in him but didn't grant happiness for all, now he's just gonna stand there forever wishing happiness for all happily like one of the Lotus Eaters. I get that the story is quite dark and cynical so I understand where they're coming from, plus the sphere's granted wishes weren't like... perfect or anything. But I dunno, when I got to the ending, I thought Red really just wanted happiness for all at his core