This is the anniversary of the generally accepted date of the discovery of the Mar del Sur (South Sea) by Vasco Núñez De Balboa (1475 – Jan. 15th, 1519). The Spanish explorer ultimately settled on Hispaniola after travelling to the New World in 1500. On this date (or on the 27th according to some) in 1513, he crested a peak on the Isthmus of Panama and saw the ocean he gave the above name, which was later renamed the Pacific by Ferdinand Magellan, who deemed it "beautiful and peaceful." See http://www.thenagain.info/WebChron/Americas/Balboa.html
