July 24th...This Day in History (Now with links to other events)

Machu Picchu discovered 1911

 

On July 24, 1911, American archeologist Hiram Bingham gets his first look at Machu Picchu, an ancient Inca settlement in Peru that is now one of the world’s top tourist destinations.

Tucked away in the rocky countryside northwest of Cuzco, Machu Picchu is believed to have been a summer retreat for Inca leaders, whose civilization was virtually wiped out by Spanish invaders in the 16th century. For hundreds of years afterwards, its existence was a secret known only to the peasants living in the region. That all changed in the summer of 1911, when Bingham arrived with a small team of explorers to search for the famous “lost” cities of the Incas.

Traveling on foot and by mule, Bingham and his team made their way from Cuzco into the Urubamba Valley, where a local farmer told them of some ruins located at the top of a nearby mountain. The farmer called the mountain Machu Picchu, which meant “Old Peak” in the native Quechua language. The next day–July 24–after a tough climb to the mountain’s ridge in cold and drizzly weather, Bingham met a small group of peasants who showed him the rest of the way. Led by an 11-year-old boy, Bingham got his first glimpse of the intricate network of stone terraces marking the entrance to Machu Picchu.

The excited Bingham spread the word about his discovery in a best-selling book, sending hordes of eager tourists flocking to Peru to follow in his footsteps up the Inca trail. The site itself stretches an impressive five miles, with over 3,000 stone steps linking its many different levels. Today, more than 300,000 people tramp through Machu Picchu every year, braving crowds and landslides to see the sun set over the towering stone monuments of the “Sacred City” and marvel at the mysterious splendor of one of the world’s most famous man-made wonders.

(More Events on This Day in History)

• American Revolution

• 1776 Hancock scolds Schuyler

• Automotive

• 1998 Bidding starts on South Korea’s Kia Motors Corp.

• Civil War

• 1864 Battle of Kernstown, Virginia

• Cold War

• 1959 Nixon and Khrushchev have a “kitchen debate”

• Crime

• 1984 A nine-year-old’s murder puts an innocent man in jail

• Disaster

• 1915 Hundreds drown in Eastland disaster

• General Interest

• 1567 Mary Queen of Scots deposed
• 1847 Mormons settle Salt Lake Valley
• 1969 Kennedy’s goal accomplished

• Hollywood

• 1998 Saving Private Ryan opens in theaters

• Literary

• 1901 O. Henry is released from prison

• Music

• 1982 “Eye Of The Tiger” from Rocky III tops the U.S. pop charts

• Old West

• 1832 Bonneville leads first wagon crossing of South Pass

• Presidential

• 1959 Nixon debates Khrushchev at a fair in Moscow

• Sports

• 2005 Lance Armstrong wins seventh Tour de France

• Vietnam War

• 1965 North Vietnam increases air defense capabilities

• World War I

• 1908 Sultan of Turkey restores constitution at demand of Young Turk rebels

• World War II

• 1943 Operation Gomorrah is launched