Captain, Sir Henry Morgan
Sir Henry (b. 1635, Llanrhymney, Glamorgan, Wales--d. Aug. 25, 1688,
probably Lawrencefield, Jam.), Welsh buccaneer, most famous of the
adventurers who plundered Spain's Caribbean colonies during the late 17th
century. Operating with the unofficial support of the English government,
he undermined Spanish authority in the West Indies.
Morgan's origins and early career are obscure. He was probably a member of
the expedition that in 1655 seized Jamaica from the Spanish and converted
it into an English colony. He may have participated in an expedition
against Cuba in 1662; and during the second Anglo-Dutch War (1665-67), he
was second in command of the buccaneers operating against Dutch colonies
in the Caribbean.
Selected commander of the buccaneers in 1668, Morgan quickly captured
Puerto PrĠncipe (now Camag,ey), Cuba, and--in an extraordinarily daring
move--stormed and sacked the well-fortified city of Porto Bello on the
Isthmus of Panama. In 1669 he made a successful raid on wealthy Spanish
settlements around Lake Maracaibo on the coast of Venezuela. Finally, in
August 1670 Morgan, with 36 ships and nearly 2,000 buccaneers, set out to
capture Panama, one of the chief cities of Spain's American empire.
Crossing the Isthmus of Panama, he defeated a large Spanish force (Jan.
18, 1671) and entered the city, which burned to the ground while his men
were looting it. On the return journey he deserted his followers and
absconded with most of the booty.
Because Morgan's raid on Panama; had taken place after the conclusion of a
peace between England and Spain, he was arrested and transported to London
(April 1672). Nevertheless, relations with Spain quickly deteriorated, and
in 1674 King Charles II knighted Morgan and sent him out again as deputy
governor of Jamaica, where he lived as a wealthy and respected planter
until his death.
Lara Croft
The daughter of famed archaeologist Lord Henshingly Croft, Lara was
brought up in the secure world of the British aristocracy - surrounded by
tennis, butlers and corgis (for those uninformed, a corgi is a type of
dog.) Tragedy struck Lara early in her life when her father mysteriously
disappeared while on a remote expedition. Deeply saddened by his absence,
her years at Wimbledon High School for girls were mostly quiet. This was
to change though as she grew older.
Moving on to the Gordonstoun school rekindled the interest in archaeology
she showed before her father's death. The nearby Scottish Highlands also
became an ideal place for her to explore and train as she became obsessed
with discovering ancient artifacts and forgotten civilizations.
Later, at her Swiss finishing school, she took to the art of extreme
skiing. Searching for more challenging terrain, Lara decided to take a
holiday in the Himalayas. On her return trip, however, the plane crashed
deep within the mountains. Lara was the sole survivor. Escaping this
adversity was one of the most harrowing experiences of her young life. It
contributed to the extremely high confidence she carries with her today.
The dramatic events that took place in her young life lead Lara to largely
reject the suffocating atmosphere of upper-class British society. She came
to the realization that she was only truly alive when she was working and
travelling alone. As a "Tomb Raider", she found a way of life, not a
profession. She rarely works on commission, preferring the art of
collecting and making new discoveries to pillaging the remnants of long
lost civilizations for profit.
To fund her adventurous lifestyle though, Lara works as a professional
photojournalist. She has made a name for herself in the field by winning a
number of Pulitzer prizes.
While In England, Lara resides in her ancestral home, a mansion in Surrey.
At one time she saw little use in having it, but soon realized it's
potential as her base of operations. The undeveloped acres of land and
numerous empty rooms are incredibly convenient for technical labs, vehicle
storage and training purposes.
