50 Fun Facts About Philippine History

Which explorer's expedition made the first documented European arrival, sighting Samar in March 1521?

His fleet anchored at Homonhon Island the next day; Elcano would finish the circumnavigation after the commander's death.

Which datu of Mactan defeated the Spanish expedition on the beach in April 1521?

He refused to pay tribute while his rival Zula did; the only primary source that names him is Antonio Pigafetta's account.

Who led the 1565 expedition that founded the first permanent Spanish settlement, in Cebu?

He became the first governor-general of the Spanish East Indies and moved the capital to Manila in 1571; Albay's capital bears his name.

Who named Leyte and Samar 'Las Islas Filipinas' in 1543, honoring a Spanish prince?

The prince was Philip of Asturias, the future Philip II; the name later spread to the whole archipelago.

In what year did Spanish forces take Maynila and make Manila the capital of the Spanish East Indies?

Mexico-born Juan de Salcedo helped lead the attack; Maynila had been a vassal of the Brunei Sultanate.

Which Augustinian friar pioneered the tornaviaje, the return sailing route from the Philippines to Mexico, in 1565?

He and Alonso de Arellano exploited the Kuroshio Current, opening the Manila galleon trade that ran until 1815.

The Manila galleons sailed between Manila and which Mexican port?

Galleons left Cavite around late June and reached the Pacific coast of New Spain the following March or April.

What event ended the Manila galleon trade in 1815?

The galleons had carried Asian luxury goods west and New World silver east for 250 years, mostly crewed by Filipino natives.

What date is inscribed on the Laguna Copperplate Inscription, the oldest known Philippine document?

It indirectly refers to the Tagalog polity of Tondo, centuries before any European ship arrived.

The Tabon Man remains, the oldest known modern human bones in the country, were found on which island?

They date to about 47,000 years ago; the older Callao Cave bones from Luzon belong to a separate species, Homo luzonensis.

Bones found in Callao Cave were identified in 2019 as which new hominin species?

The find came from Luzon's Callao Cave; the remains included 12 bones from three individuals.

The opening of which canal in 1869 cut travel time to Spain and helped create the ilustrado class?

Educated Filipinos could now study in European universities, and the Propaganda Movement followed.

Gomburza refers to three priests executed by garrote in 1872 after which uprising?

Fathers Gómez, Burgos and Zamora died at Bagumbayan; Rizal later dedicated El filibusterismo to their memory.

Who wrote the novels Noli Me Tángere (1887) and El filibusterismo (1891)?

The two books are treated as a national epic; he was an ophthalmologist by profession.

To which town on Mindanao was Rizal banished in 1892?

He was arrested days after founding La Liga Filipina; in exile he met Josephine Bracken, who became his common-law wife.

On what date was Rizal executed at Bagumbayan?

A backup squad of Spanish regulars stood ready to shoot the Filipino executioners if they refused to fire; the site is now Rizal Park.

Where was Rizal's farewell poem 'Mi último adiós' hidden before being passed to his family?

The poem was untitled; it first appeared as 'Mi último pensamiento', a title he supplied.

In what year was the Katipunan, the secret society that launched the revolution, founded?

Its initiation rites resembled freemasonry, and membership was at first open only to men; its initials were KKK.

Who was the Katipunan's Supremo, often called the Father of the Philippine Revolution?

Born in Tondo on the feast of St Andrew, he was executed at Maragondon in May 1897 after the Tejeros power struggle.

What was the name of the Katipunan's short-lived newspaper, printed only in March 1896?

The name means 'Freedom'; the society's discovery by Spanish authorities that August triggered the revolution.

During the Cry of Pugad Lawin in August 1896, what did Katipuneros tear up in defiance of Spain?

The cédulas personales were proof of allegiance to Spain; the exact date and place of the Cry are still disputed.

Which 1897 assembly elected Emilio Aguinaldo president in absentia, splitting the revolution?

Bonifacio nullified the results after his election as interior secretary was questioned; the schism ended with his execution.

Under the December 1897 Pact of Biak-na-Bato, Aguinaldo and other leaders went into exile where?

Spain also agreed to pay the revolutionaries 800,000 Mexican pesos; Aguinaldo returned aboard a U.S. ship in May 1898.

Which American commodore destroyed the Spanish squadron at Manila Bay on May 1, 1898?

His Asiatic Squadron had waited in Hong Kong; the battle is often called the Battle of Cavite.

'You may fire when ready, Gridley' was spoken aboard which flagship at Manila Bay?

Gridley was the Olympia's captain; the order came at 5:41 in the morning.

Where was Philippine independence proclaimed on June 12, 1898?

The ceremony took place at Aguinaldo's ancestral home, then called Cavite el Viejo, about 30 kilometers south of Manila.

Who sewed the first Philippine flag, unfurled at the 1898 proclamation?

She worked with Lorenza Agoncillo and Delfina Herboza in Hong Kong; Aguinaldo himself is credited with the design.

Who composed the music of 'Lupang Hinirang', the national anthem, in 1898?

It began as a wordless national march; José Palma's Spanish poem 'Filipinas' supplied the lyrics in 1899.

What do the sun's rays on the Philippine flag originally represent?

The three stars stand for Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao, and flying the flag red side up signals a state of war.

How much did the United States pay Spain for the Philippines under the 1898 Treaty of Paris?

Spain also gave up Cuba, Puerto Rico and Guam; the treaty took effect in April 1899.

In which Bulacan town was the constitution of the First Philippine Republic proclaimed in January 1899?

The republic lasted until Aguinaldo's capture in March 1901.

Which revolutionary, known as the 'brain of the revolution', served as the First Republic's first prime minister?

He did all his work despite having lost the use of both legs to polio, and was later exiled to Guam by the Americans.

On what date did fighting between Filipino and American forces begin in Manila in 1899?

The U.S. had refused to recognize the June 1898 independence declaration or the First Republic.

Where was Emilio Aguinaldo captured by forces under Frederick Funston in March 1901?

Macabebe Scouts posing as prisoners' escorts got Funston into the headquarters; the First Republic effectively ended there.

On what date did the United States officially declare the Philippine–American War over?

Moro resistance in the south continued until the Battle of Bud Bagsak in 1913.

What did the American colonial government's Act of 1907 ban?

The ban lasted until the act's repeal in 1919, when the national march regained its status.

The 1934 Tydings–McDuffie Act set Philippine independence after a transition period of how many years?

It was signed by Franklin D. Roosevelt and led to the 1935 Constitution and the Commonwealth.

Who defeated Emilio Aguinaldo in the 1935 election to become the Commonwealth's first president?

He later ran a government in exile in the United States during the Japanese occupation and died in 1944.

In 1937, the Commonwealth chose which language as the basis of the national language?

It was the language of Manila and the surrounding provinces, though general usage took many years.

The Bataan Death March of April 1942 forced prisoners toward which destination?

Around 72,000 to 78,000 Filipino and American POWs were marched roughly 105 km; General Homma was executed for it in 1946.

The 1945 Battle of Manila, which killed at least 100,000 civilians, is often called the what of Asia?

It was the largest urban battle American forces ever fought, and left Manila as devastated as Berlin and Warsaw.

Which 1944 engagement off the Philippines was the largest naval battle in history by gross tonnage?

It came at the start of the Allied liberation of the islands.

Who became the first president of the independent Republic of the Philippines in 1946?

The U.S. ceded sovereignty on July 4, 1946; he died of a heart attack after a speech at Clark Air Base in 1948.

Which president moved Independence Day from July 4 to June 12?

June 12 marks the 1898 proclamation at Kawit; July 4 had marked the 1946 transfer of sovereignty from the United States.

Which defense secretary, later president, put down the Hukbalahap rebellion?

An automobile mechanic by trade, he died in a plane crash in Cebu in 1957, the most recent president to die in office.

Which numbered decree placed the Philippines under martial law in September 1972?

Marcos signed it on September 21 and announced it on TV two days later; it was formally lifted in January 1981.

Where was Ninoy Aquino assassinated on August 21, 1983?

He was returning from self-imposed exile in the United States; his death galvanized the opposition and the Yellow Revolution.

EDSA, where the 1986 People Power crowds gathered, stands for what?

More than two million people filled the Metro Manila road from February 22 to 25, 1986, led in part by Cardinal Jaime Sin.

To which U.S. state did the Marcos family flee after the 1986 revolution?

They left on Reagan's advice; protesters who entered Malacañang found Imelda had left more than 2,700 pairs of shoes.

Who became the first female president of the Philippines in 1986?

Time named her Woman of the Year in 1986; her son Benigno Aquino III became the 15th president.