Infamy, and Infamy Redux

One of the things we did today, at the suggestion of our friend Randall, was visit the Hong Kong Museum of Coastal Defense. Set on a promontory at the eastern end of the island, on the site of an old redoubt, this museum tracks the naval/coastal history of Hong Kong from the Ming Dynasty to the current day.

Two bits of history were emphasized, at least to my eye and ear. The first is the original reason that Hong Kong became a British isle...the opium wars of the mid 19th century, fought because the Brits wanted access to the Chinese market for their Bengal opium. Puts a different spin on the concept of "drug wars" with the Brits playing the role of today's Colombian cartels, and the Chinese emperor trying to say "Just say no."

The other one was a gap in my knowledge of more recent history. Most Americans know what happened in Hawaii on Sunday, December 7, 1941, but did you know that the Japanese followed up on Monday, December 8, 1941, with a similar bombing of Hong Kong? I didn't.