For those interested in DNA and ancient history, here are a couple of YouTube videos that I found fascinating. "Why Portuguese DNA is the strangest paradox in European History" ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBR2a1XfpEk ) and "Why are the Portuguese genetically different from Spaniards" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p36Jdv194Hw). Both are just over 13 minutes. In short, Spain and Portugal were warmer refuges for Europeans during the Ice Age that ended about 9,000 years ago, then while Spain was exposed to Mediterranean cultures, Portugal wasn't. But that's only the big picture, there are parts of Portugal that also came under different influences.

On this day, in 1515, a Portuguese fleet commanded by Afonso de Albuquerque captured the strategic Persian fortress of Hormuz (Ormuz) in the Strait of Hormuz. Renamed the Fort of Our Lady of the Conception, it secured vital control over spice trade routes between Europe, India, and the Middle East, marking a high point of Portuguese maritime empire-building in the Indian Ocean.