CORAZON (CORY) AQUINO: HER LIFE, CHARACTER, FAMILY, NINOY AND MARCOS

CORAZON (CORY) AQUINO

Corazon Aquino when she was at the White House in 1986

Corazon Cojuangco Aquino was president of the Philippines from 1986 to 1992. The first female leader of a Southeast Asian country, she was named Time Woman of the Year in 1986 primarily for her role in the “People Power” revolution that ousted Ferdinand Marcos. Often described as a shy housewife who became leader of country, she liked to wear yellow, a symbol of democracy. Her years in power were anything but tranquil. Among other things she survived family coup attempts (six to nine depending on the source), mostly by rightists and Marcos sympathizers.

Aquino, universally and affectionately known as "Cory," was a Philippine president quite unlike those who preceded her. Observers have groped for the right word to characterize the Aquino presidency. She was first called a "revolutionary," but later a mere "reformer." When the old landed families recaptured the political system, she was called a "restorationist." She has received many honorary degrees and awards such the Eleanor Roosevelt Human Rights Award, the United Nations Silver Medal, the Canadian International Prize for Freedom, and the International Leadership Living Legacy Award from the Women’s International Center.

Aquino was the person who coined the term “people power” to describe by huge crowds that gathered in support of her after the disputed election in February 1986. Seth Mydans wrote in the New York Times, “Demure but radiant in her familiar yellow dress, Mrs. Aquino brought hope to the Philippines as a presidential candidate, then led its difficult transition to democracy from 20 years of autocratic rule under her predecessor, Ferdinand E. Marcos. That initial triumph of popular will — after a fraudulent election in which Mr. Marcos claimed victory, though most people believed that Mrs. Aquino had won — was a high point in modern Philippine history, and it offered a model for nonviolent uprisings that has been repeated often in other countries. But it also set a difficult precedent in the Philippines, where people nostalgic for their shining moment continue to see mass movements as an acceptable, if unconstitutional, answer to the difficulties of a flawed democratic system.[Source: Seth Mydans, New York Times, July 31, 2009]

Aquino was sort of like the Philippines’s Joan of Arc. A slight woman who wore big glasses, she was a reluctant rallying point for the People Power revolution and was thrust into that position primarily because her husband Benigno Aquino, Marcos’s primary opponent and a martyr of the anti-Marcos movement. In any case, she seized the moment when it presented itself and helped restore the democracy to the Philippines that Marcos took away. After winning the general election in 1986, Aquino said, “This is my message to Mr. Marcos and his puppets: do not threaten Cory Aquino, because I am not alone.”

Cory Aquino’s Image and Character

Cory, Ninoy and Family

Vincent McKee and Claire Wallerstein wrote in The Guardian, Aquino “was the most recognisable symbol of the turbulence endured by her country over the last four decades. Aquino avoided the limelight, and was more comfortable among priests and nuns than politicians. Yet, with dignified stoicism, she persevered with the duties of a presidency that had been thrust upon her by tragedy and circumstance. This "Mother of Sorrows" image proved both endearing and effective. It enabled her to count on the support of Cardinal Jaime Sin, ecclesiastical primate in the world's third largest Catholic nation, and shielded her in the seven coup attempts launched by her enemies over the six years of her presidency. Yet for all her moral virtue, as a president Aquino was naive and weak.” [Source: Vincent McKee and Claire Wallerstein, The Guardian, August 1, 2009]

Howard Chua-Eoan wrote in Time, “The arc of Corazon Aquino’s life lent itself to maxims, but two hard-nosed ones seem particularly worth pointing out. First, political sainthood is a gift from heaven with a Cinderella deadline — once past midnight, you are a pumpkin. Second, personal virtues are never a guarantee of effective or successful governance. What was truly shocking about Aquino’s tumultuous six-year term as President of the Philippines was that those maxims proved untrue. Midnight always threatened Aquino but never struck; and she was a good woman whose goodness alone, at the very end, was what proved enough, if only by an iota, to save her country. [Source: Howard Chua-Eoan, Time, August 17, 2009]

“The exact opposite was foretold by the husband whose murder she vowed to avenge and whose political legacy she promised to preserve. Anyone who succeeded Ferdinand Marcos, Benigno Aquino declared, would smell like horse manure six months after taking power.” But “ Benigno Aquino’s widow lasted more than six months; indeed, she lasted her entire six-year term. Furthermore, she retained a whiff of sanctity even as her government rotted, even as Filipinos worked hard to prove George Orwell’s aphorism that saints are guilty until proven innocent. As Aquino ruled, every month seemed to diminish the political miracle of her astonishing rise to power, but she survived. And her survival guaranteed the continuation of democracy in her homeland.”

Aquino's Early Life

Maria Corazon Sumulong Conjuangco was born on January 25, 1933 in Paniqui, Tarlac, which is in central Luzon, north of Manila. Her maiden name indicates Chinese mestizo ancestry. Many of her descendants came from China. Her parents were Jose Chichioco Cojuangco and Demetria "Metring" Sumulong, and the family were of mixed Chinese, Filipino, and Spanish descent. The family surname is a Spanish version of the Chinese name "Koo Kuan Goo." Among the wealthiest families in the province, the Cojuangcos had various banking and commercial interests owned a sugar plantation covering 15,000 acres. A Cory was the couple's the sixth of eight children. Corazon means “Heart” in Spanish.

Cory, Ninoy and Family

Cory Marcos’s father was a three-term congressman and her mother pharmacist, who was the daughter of a senator. The Cojuangcos were one of richest clans in the Philippines. Her Chinese great-grandfather's name could have been romanized to Ko Hwan-ko, but, following the normal practice of assimilationist Catholic Chinese-Filipinos, all the Chinese names were collapsed into one, and a Spanish first name was taken.

Like the Aquino family, Cory's family was ftom landed oligarchic class of mixed Chinese, Spanish, and Malay ancestry that had long exercised significant political and economic influence in the Philippines since the colonial era. She studied at exclusive schools in Manila until the age of 13, after which she was sent to the United States to complete her education in Catholic convent institutions. Former classmates and teachers later described her as quiet, diligent, and deeply devout. [Source: Seth Mydans, New York Times, July 31, 2009]

During her teenage years, she lived the life of a privileged and well-educated young woman studying abroad. She attended Ravenhill Academy in Philadelphia and later the Notre Dame Convent School in New York. She went on to earn a bachelor’s degree from the College of Mount Saint Vincent, majoring in French and minoring in mathematics. While in the United States, she also volunteered in the 1948 presidential campaign of Thomas Dewey.

In 1953, she returned to the Philippines to pursue studies in law. Fluent in Tagalog, Kapampangan, French, and English, she was well prepared for public life, combining elite education, multilingual ability, and strong religious grounding.

Cory Aquino as Benigno “Ninoy” Acquinos Wife

After returning to Manila she briefly studied law at the Far Eastern University. There, she met a young man from one of the Philippines' other wealthy families, a fellow student named Benigno “Ninoy” S. Aquino, Jr. She abandoned her plans to become a lawyer after marrying Benigno. Ninoy was a restless, rich scion of another prominent Tarlac family and a journalist with political aspirations. He became a mayor, then soon afterwards became the youngest governor ever elected in the Philippines, and then the youngest member of the Senate ever in 1967. Corazon concentrated on raising their five children: Maria Elena ("Ballsy") (b. 1955), Aurora ("Pinky") (b.1957), Benigno III "Noynoy" (1960), Victoria Elisa ("Viel") (1961), and Kristina Bernadette ("Kris") (1971).

As Benigno Aquino Jr. rose in national politics, Corazon Aquino remained a devoted and gracious supporter behind the scenes. She managed their household and fulfilled the role of political hostess but avoided the spotlight, often standing quietly at the back during campaign rallies rather than joining her husband on stage. In the early 1970s, when campaign finances grew strained, she moved the family into a smaller home and even sold part of her inherited land to help fund his political efforts. [Source: Kallie Szczepanski, Asian History Expert, asianhistory.about.com */]

Cory and Ninoy

In 1972, when Ferdinand Marcos declared martial law and extended his rule beyond constitutional limits, Ninoy—then a leading opposition figure and widely expected to run in the 1973 presidential election—was arrested on charges of subversion and illegal possession of firearms. Marcos abolished the Constitution and consolidated power, while Ninoy was imprisoned and later sentenced to death. For the next seven years, Corazon raised their children largely on her own as her husband remained behind bars.

In 1978, Marcos called parliamentary elections, the first since the declaration of martial law, seeking to legitimize his regime. Although he anticipated an easy victory, public sympathy rallied behind the opposition slate led in absentia by the jailed Aquino. Despite her personal reservations about Ninoy’s decision to campaign from prison, Corazon delivered speeches on his behalf—an experience that marked her first significant step into public political life. The election results, however, were widely viewed as fraudulent, with Marcos claiming an overwhelming majority of parliamentary seats.

Ninoy’s health deteriorated during his imprisonment, prompting U.S. President Jimmy Carter to intervene and urge Marcos to allow the Aquino family to seek medical treatment abroad. In 1980, they were permitted to leave for the United States, where Ninoy underwent heart surgery. He later accepted academic appointments at Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the family settled in Newton, near Boston. Corazon would later describe those years as among the happiest of her life. Yet Ninoy felt compelled to continue challenging the dictatorship and began planning his eventual return to the Philippines.

Journalist Seth Mydans of The New York Times later wrote that Corazon’s political awakening deepened during her husband’s imprisonment. Acting as his sole link to the outside world, she memorized his statements and relayed them to the press, gradually gaining confidence and experience that would later define her own unexpected rise to national leadership.

Cory Aquino After her Husband’s Death

Cory at a political rally

Ninoy was assassinated as he got off the plane from Taipei to Manila on August 21, 1983. Corazon Aquino was a widow at the age of 50. A grieving Cory returned to the Philippines the following day. Instead or mourning in private she allowed Ninoy's open coffin to travel to different places before the funeral, which attracted a crowd of 2 million.

Despite warnings from Imelda Marcos, Benigno Aquino Jr. felt compelled by a sense of duty to return to the Philippines. On August 21, 1983, after years in exile, he was escorted off his plane by soldiers and shot dead on a stairway at the Manila airport tarmac. At his funeral, dressed in black and standing beside his open coffin, Corazon Aquino emerged as a national symbol of quiet strength and dignity—qualities that would later define her presidency. Her public appeal reached its height during the January 1986 presidential campaign, when vast crowds gathered around her chanting, “Cory! Cory! Cory!” [Source: Seth Mydans, New York Times, July 31, 2009; Vincent McKee and Claire Wallerstein, The Guardian, August 1, 2009]

According to journalists Vincent McKee and Claire Wallerstein in The Guardian, Aquino skillfully channeled the country’s shock and anger into disciplined mass protest. She organized weekly demonstrations that drew more than a million participants. Coming from a wealthy family with major interests in sugar, banking, and real estate, she succeeded in mobilizing sectors not usually inclined toward street activism—the business elite, the upper classes, the Catholic Church, students, and the urban poor. Even Ayala Avenue, Manila’s financial district often likened to Wall Street, became a central venue for her rallies.

In November 1985, when Marcos called a snap presidential election, Aquino became the consensus candidate of a previously divided opposition, backed by 1.2 million signatures urging her to run. Yet she approached the campaign with humility, cautioning supporters not to expect too much from her. She formally declared her candidacy shortly after a Marcos-appointed court acquitted 26 military officers accused of involvement in Ninoy’s assassination. Marcos dismissed her as “a snake in the Garden of Eden,” while Imelda belittled the massive public support she enjoyed. Aquino responded by rising above the attacks, likening herself to the biblical David preparing to confront the giant Goliath.

Cory Aquino the Politician

Aquino was portrayed in the media as just an ordinary housewife who was challenging a 20-year dictator for presidency, but this was never true. As she had been tutored in politics from an early age, was college educated, was part of a wealthy political family, and had a husband with political instinct and ambition. She came to power as a "clean-up mom," trying to move her country out of social and financial turmoil, and she also wanted to keep her husband's political vision alive. She appeared shy and a silent student and wife, but she is also seen as eventually growing into role as a leader. [Source: people.brandeis.edu]

Corazon Aquino became actively involved with politics, as her husband, Benigno, was a popular critic of the Marcos dictatorship in the Philippines. After Begnino’s assassination, Cory Aquino had hoped that the party would find someone else to run against Marcos in 1986, so that she would not have to be considered. She agreed to run if she had a million signatures on petitions requesting her to run, and so she did.

Seth Mydans wrote in the New York Times, “An observant Roman Catholic who sometimes retreated to convents for contemplation, she attributed much of her success to a divine will. She also said she sought guidance from the spirit of her late husband, Benigno S. Aquino Jr., who had been a chief challenger to Mr. Marcos. His assassination in 1983 fueled the opposition against Mr. Marcos and made his widow a popular figure. “What on earth do I know about being president?” Mrs. Aquino said in an interview in December 1985, after a rally opening her election campaign. But that was beside the point. For many Filipinos, she embodied a hope of becoming a better nation and a prouder people. “The only thing I can really offer the Filipino people is my sincerity,” she said in the interview. It was what they hungered for, and what she delivered as president. [Source: Seth Mydans, New York Times, July 31, 2009]

Cory Aquino and the People’s Power Revolt

After her husband’s death, Aquino though that she could fight Marcos from behind the scenes. She had no plans or desire to become an opposition leader. In 1985 she joined the United Nationalist Democratic Organization, she said, to help elect others. After mediating and paraying for 10 hours at a convent, finally came to the realization that she alone could unify the opposition. Afterwards she said, “We had to present somebody, who is the complete opposite of Marcos, someone who has been a victim. Looking around I may not be the worst victim, but I am the best known.” A combination of deep faith, sereneness, and hard work, propelled Aquino through the People Power revolution and the subsequent election. Though hampered by the government’s near monopoly of the media, Aquino’s appearances attracted millions of passionate supporters, many decked out in yellow, the reluctant candidate’s favorite color.

Literally millions of Filipinos flooded the streets of Manila for the funeral of Benigno Aquino Jr.. Walking at the head of the procession, Corazon Aquino displayed quiet sorrow and composure. In the months that followed, she emerged as the leading figure of the anti-Marcos opposition, guiding rallies and demonstrations with calm resolve. Her steady leadership under intense pressure placed her at the forefront of the growing reform movement that became known as “People Power.” [Source: Kallie Szczepanski, Asian History Expert, asianhistory.about.com */]

Alarmed by the sustained mass protests—and perhaps overestimating his own popularity—Ferdinand Marcos called a snap presidential election for February 1986. Aging and in declining health, Marcos reportedly dismissed Aquino as “just a woman,” suggesting that politics was no place for her. Yet her campaign energized vast crowds of supporters who mobilized across the country.

After a high voter turnout, the Marcos-controlled parliament declared him the winner amid widespread allegations of fraud. Public outrage quickly erupted, and demonstrators once again filled Manila’s streets. Key military leaders defected to Aquino’s side, shifting the balance of power. After four tense and chaotic days of confrontation, Marcos and his wife, Imelda Marcos, fled into exile in the United States, bringing an end to two decades of authoritarian rule.

Cory Aquino After She was President

Although Aquino’s supporters urged her to run for a second term in 1992, she refused. The new 1987 Constitution forbade second terms, but since she was elected before the constitution came in to effect, the limitation to one term did not apply to her. Corazon Aquino supported her Defense Secretary, Fidel Ramos, in his candidacy to replace her as president. Ramos won the 1992 presidential election in a crowded field, although he was far short of a majority, with only 24 percent of the vote.

After steeping down as president Aquino chairmaned the Benigno S. Aquino Foundation, which was involved in reducing poverty and providing scholarships for disadvantaged youth. She was also active in politics from time to time and spoke out against changes to the constitution that would make the Philippines less democratic. She helped paved the way for Ramos by endorsing him and was one of those who asked Estrada to step down.

Aquino spent much of her time doting on her grandchildren and painting sunny landscapes. She wrote her memoirs and worked out of an office in the business district of Makati in Manila to further the spread of democracy in Asia. She offered support to Aung San Suu Kyi in Burma and Wan Azizah Ismail, the wife of imprisoned Malaysian politician Anwar Ibrahim. When asked if she could ever become friends with Imelda Marcos, Corazon Aquino said, "Well, you know she spends all her time calling me ugly. How can you reconcile with someone who keeps calling you ugly."

For a long time Aquino’s most well known offspring was her daughter Kris Aquino. See appeared as an actress in some B-films and worked as a television announcer. See Kris Aquino.

In retirement, former President Aquino frequently spoke out on political and social issues. She was particularly vocal in opposing later presidents' attempts to amend the constitution to allow themselves extra terms in office. She also worked to reduce violence and homelessness in the Philippines. In 2007, Corazon Aquino publicly campaigned for her son Noynoy when he ran for the Senate.

Seth Mydans wrote in the New York Times, “After Mrs. Aquino left office in 1992, the Philippines has had two electoral transfers of presidential power and two attempts at replicating “people power,” including one that succeeded in removing a democratically elected president, Joseph Estrada, in 2001. Mrs. Aquino spent the decades after her presidency as the fading conscience of her country, supporting social causes and, in her last years. [Source: Seth Mydans, New York Times, July 31, 2009]

Vincent McKee and Claire Wallerstein wrote in The Guardian, “After stepping down, she initiated a foundation to assist disadvantaged Filipinos create small businesses. From her private resources, she endowed church social projects in poor communities and rescue centres for street children. At the same time, her voice was heard on public issues. On the discovery of alleged evidence linking President Arroyo to ballot fraud in 2005 she called for her resignation. She never again took an active part in politics, however. [Source: Vincent McKee and Claire Wallerstein, The Guardian, August 1, 2009]

Howard Chua-Eoan wrote in Time, “After the presidency, she ran a think tank and center on nonviolence that carried her husband’s name. She also every so often led public protests opposing the policies of her successors, if not her successors themselves. She led demonstrations to remind Ramos that she had promised to dismantle America’s bases in the Philippines. He complied. She also led protests against her former ally, the second woman President of the Philippines, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, in the wake of corruption charges against Arroyo and her husband. Whenever the country appeared to be in a crisis, Cory Aquino rose above the bureaucratic procrastination that had always bogged it down, reminding her people that they once astonished the world with their bravery — and that they could do it again. [Source: Howard Chua-Eoan, Time, August 17, 2009]

Cory Aquino’s Death and Funeral

In March of 2008, Aquino announced that she had been diagnosed with colorectal cancer. Despite aggressive treatment, she passed away on August 1, 2009, at the age of 76. She did not get to see her son Noynoy elected president; he took power on June 30, 2010. Seth Mydans wrote in the New York Times, “Aquino died in Manila, her son said. She was 76. Her son, Senator Benigno S. Aquino III, known as Noynoy, said in a statement that she died at 3:18 a.m. She learned she had advanced colon cancer a year before and had been hospitalized in Manila for more than a month, he said. The cancer had spread to other organs, he added, and she was too weak to continue chemotherapy. [Source: Seth Mydans, New York Times, July 31, 2009]

At her funeral, Reuters reported: “More than 100,000 mourners have braved heavy rain in central Manila to honour former president Corazon Aquino, heroine of the Philippines' 1986 people power movement. Masses in Ms Aquino's memory were celebrated in Catholic churches throughout the country, with 1,000 officials, diplomats and business figures attending the largest in Manila's 400-year-old cathedral. Ms Aquino's youngest daughter, Kristina Bernadette Yap, a film and television star more popularly known as Kris Aquino, thanked those attending. "The last words mum expressed to each of us were, 'Take care of each other'," she said. "I know that those words weren't meant just for our family, but for all of us as a nation. In the way that all of you have been thanking us for sharing mum with you, our mum never failed to thank each of us." [Source: Reuters, August 5, 2009 \^/ ]

“Ms Aquino is to be buried next to her husband, Benigno, whose assassination in 1983 catapulted her to the national stage. Among those paying respects to Ms Aquino was East Timor leader Jose Ramos-Horta. Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo came to the cathedral from the airport on her return from a visit to the United States. In the cathedral grounds, mourners clad in yellow - the colour associated with Ms Aquino and the 1986 revolution - watched a live broadcast of the mass on two giant screens. \^/

“Police said a procession extending more than two kilometres - more than 100,000 people - later filed slowly behind Ms Aquino's cortege as it wound its way to the cemetery. Those in the procession chanted "Cory! Cory!" and flashed the "L" hand sign, Ms Aquino's trademark during the revolution. White doves were released. Many of those present were too young to have experienced the fairytale revolution which propelled Ms Aquino to power. "I only knew Cory from my history class in school and from my parents who were at the revolution. I came here to show my gratitude to her," said Andrea Corpuz, 16. On Tuesday, Mr Marcos's son, Ferdinand Jr, and daughter, Imee, joined the wake. Their mother, Imelda Marcos, has also expressed her sorrow at Ms Aquino's death. World leaders, including the Pope, US President Barack Obama and Chinese President Hu Jintao sent messages of sympathy. The government has announced a 10-day period of mourning, financial markets were closed, and a public holiday was declared.” \^/

Cory Aquino’s Legacy and the Lasting Power of People

Howard Chua-Eoan wrote in Time, “Aquino was convinced that her presidency was divinely inspired, even as her political foes mocked her piety. “If the country needs me,” she said, “God will spare me.” And miracle of miracles, she proved God right and her critics wrong. She would be succeeded by a democratically elected general — the first to be at her side as Marcos threatened to mow down her supporters in the streets. She anointed him despite the opposition of her church. Indeed, Fidel Ramos would be the first Protestant to lead the overwhelmingly Catholic country. And he would give the islands a taste of stability and economic prosperity that she was unable to deliver. But without her withstanding the enemies of freedom, he would never have had the chance.” [Source: Howard Chua-Eoan, Time, August 17, 2009]

Hannah Beech wrote in Time, “Within a few years of People Power in the Philippines, it was hard to keep up with all the peaceful uprisings that were sweeping aside authoritarian regimes across the globe: Solidarity in Poland, the Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakia, the antiapartheid movement in South Africa, the end of dictatorships in South Korea, Mongolia and Taiwan. Even the extinguished idealism of student protesters in Tiananmen or the monks in Burma drew succor from the example of a certain Filipino homemaker's bravery — a woman who herself almost inadvertently assumed the mantle of Mohandas Gandhi after the assassination of her political-dissident husband in 1983. "Cory Aquino's struggle for and success at fortifying constitutional democracy in the Philippines," says Anwar Ibrahim, the Malaysian opposition leader, "was one of the signal battles in the last quarter of the 20th century." [Source: Hannah Beech, Time, August 17, 2009 ***]

“Today, the surge of political change during that momentous era, from Eastern Europe to Eastern Asia, seems like an inevitability. Back then, it felt like an impossibility. No one was more surprised than the bespectacled widow who admitted that she didn't even like politics and might just as easily have ended up spending her days pruning her beloved bonsai. Nevertheless, in 1986 Aquino made People Power — and People Power made the world we now inhabit a freer place. "When we were struggling with apartheid," recalls retired Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the moral force of South Africa's political change, "we spoke of People Power. You had to be with the people to make change happen." At the dawn of a new century, his words may feel stunningly obvious. Yet to a planet conditioned by colonialism or Confucianism or tyranny to think that the people's obligation is to follow, not lead, Aquino's inspiration was truly transformative. ***

“If the purity of people power's message remains unblemished today, its political legacy is more complicated. True, in recent years, Aquino's quiet defiance has continued to inspire regime-changing street demonstrations, from the "Reformasi"-chanting crowds who overthrew Suharto in neighboring Indonesia in 1998 to the so-called color revolutions that catalyzed change in places like Georgia (rose) and Ukraine (orange) in the early 2000s. Like People Power, many of these movements gained momentum when the international media broadcast images of thousands upon thousands of people uniting peacefully against corrupt or cruel governments. Under the scrutiny of satellite-TV cameras, traditional exercises of power — guns, truncheons, tanks — often backfired against the force of nonviolent protest. ***

“Also like People Power, many of these latter-day protests have profited from the power of communication to mobilize. Back in 1986, some 1 million marchers who flooded the now iconic Epifanio de los Santos Avenue (EDSA) were summoned by samizdat radio stations that broadcast a political call to prayer. During the recent mass protests in the former Soviet bloc, it was thumbs tapping out cell-phone text messages that brought crowds onto streets. This year in Iran, Twitter and other social-networking sites have served as the carrier pigeons of incipient revolution. “

Image Sources: Wikimedia Commons, Ateneo ML Museum, learn.martiallawmuseum.ph

Text Sources: “Encyclopedia of World Cultures Volume 5: East/Southeast Asia:” edited by Paul Hockings, 1993; National Geographic, Live Science, Philippines Department of Tourism, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Natural History magazine, New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Smithsonian magazine, Encyclopedia.com, Times of London, Library of Congress, The Conversation, The New Yorker, Time, BBC, CNN, Reuters, Associated Press, AFP, Lonely Planet Guides, Google AI, Wikipedia, The Guardian and various websites, books and other publications.

Last updated February 2026