A king of the tropics in the United States

Dom Pedro II was elevated to the position of emperor at the age of 6, after the abdication of his father, Dom Pedro I, in 1831. He assumed power at 15, becoming the youngest ruler Brazil has ever had. Educated from an early age to be a monarch, he identified very early on with intellectuals, so he had a true passion for letters, science, and knowledge of new cultures and technologies. His curiosity led him to take long tours around Brazil and abroad.

Dom Pedro II's first international voyage was to Europe and North Africa, and his second voyage was to the United States in 1876. This was not an official visit, but one of the Emperor's curious journeys and it was full of compromises. There he visited various institutions, like schools, factories, and even prisons. Wherever he went, Dom Pedro II generated a following. The biggest event, no doubt, was the inauguration of the Philadelphia Universal Exposition. This celebrated the country's 100 years of independence, which Dom Pedro II attended with great interest.

There the Emperor marveled at the technological advances of the U.S. On that occasion, he met Thomas Edison, who invented the light bulb, and Alexander Graham Bell, who invented the telephone, and tested this new invention. Captivated by the invention, he made sure that Brazil was one of the first countries in the world to own a telephone.

Dom Pedro II at Niagara Falls

The pleasing relationship between Dom Pedro II and the Americans culminated in a curious situation, to say the least: the Emperor won a symbolic candidacy for the presidency. His charisma made Americans enjoy his presence to the point that he won several write-in votes in the election.

The Brazilian Imperial Museum (http://museuimperial.museus.gov.br/diario-d-pedro-ii.html) will make available on its website the journal contents of Dom Pedro II, concerning the trip to the U.S. from April to July 1876. There are forty-three pages handwritten notebooks that are part of the Museum's collection.

If you want to learn Portuguese I can teach you in individual lessons by Skype at Cafetalk .

Rondon, Celebrated Frontiersman of Brazil

Cândido Mariano da Silva Rondon was a marshal and one of the most important military Brazilians. He was born in the state of Mato Grosso. He had Indian origin and was orphaned as a child; his father died before he met him and his mother died early. Because of that, he was raised by an uncle who bore the surname Rondon. After his uncle's death, he went to Rio de Janeiro to start his army career. 

Rondon was an expert communicator and cartographer. His dozens of expeditions across the country, demarcated borders, mapped twelve rivers and corrected the layout of many other rivers. He was responsible for the construction of more than 5,000 meters of telegraph lines, such as the one that linked Cuiabá to Santo Antônio do Madeira - the first to penetrate the Amazon region, later named the Rondon Commission of 1907. The precision of his maps compared to today’s satellite images has proven highly accurate.

Between 1913 and 1917, he participated in the Roosevelt-Rondon scientific expedition, touring the territory of the state of Mato Grosso alongside former American President, Theodore Roosevelt. The expedition had come into contact with numerous indigenous peoples, such as the nhambiquaras, karipunas, macurapes, botocudos, jarus and caingangues. He was one of the articulators and director of the Xingu Indigenous National Service, work fulfilled by the Villas-Bôas brothers who were also notable explorers. The Xingu Indigenous National Service later developed into the National Indigenous Foundation.  

Rondon had rigorously strict habits. He slept less than five hours a night and woke up before four in the morning. Invariably, in his exploration missions, he bathed in a river before sunrise. In 1913, he was struck by a poisoned arrow from the Nhambiquaras Indians. He was struck in the leather of the bandit he wore which luckily protected him. As a result, he was able to retreat, ordering his men not to clash with the Indians and to not react to any aggression.

Marshal Rondon received worldwide recognition for his role as an explorer. He was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize by none other than Albert Einstein in 1925 and the New York Explorers Club in the 1950’s. In February 1956, the Federal Territory of Guaporé, created earlier in 1943 from the dismemberment of areas of the states of Amazonas and Mato Grosso, was renamed Rondônia in his honor.

If you want to learn Portuguese I can teach you in individual lessons by Skype at Cafetalk .