Difference between revisions of "Template:Westarctica.wiki:Today's featured article"

no edit summary
(147 intermediate revisions by the same user not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
[[File:The Claimant Letter.jpg|300px|left]]
[[File:Blowtorch-Drink.jpg|250px|left]]
The '''Claimant Letter''' is the founding document of [[Westarctica]]. The purpose of the letter was analogous to a Declaration of Independence, although Westarctica was not under the authority of any world government at the time it declared itself to be a [[sovereignty|sovereign]] nation.
A '''[[blowtorch (drink)|blowtorch]]''' is an alcoholic cocktail invented by members of the 1928 Byrd [[Antarctic]] Expedition. The recipe calls for mixing lemon powder with grain alcohol and diluting the mixture with ice until it's drinkable.


Starting in August 2001, [[Grand Duke Travis|Travis McHenry]] began researching the feasibility of making a legal claim to the previously unclaimed sector of [[Antarctica]] known as [[Marie Byrd Land]]. After closely studying the articles of the [[Antarctic Treaty]], Travis determined that the terms of the treaty would only prevent a ''country'' from making a claim to Antarctica territory, but it would not prevent an ''individual'' from doing the same.
Dr. F. Dana Coman, the expedition's physician, and the man with the keys to the liquor supply, took some of the grain alcohol and mixed it with the lemon powder and the crushed orange juice concentrate. The men dubbed this extremely potent drink a "blowtorch." [[Richard Byrd]] himself participated in the festivities and every couple of weeks, he would authorize a tub of blowtorches to be made up and a party held to help the men relax and unwind during the long winter.


It wasn't until 30 October 2001 that Travis wrote what would effectively be a declaration of independence for the Achaean Territory of Antarctica. After purchasing special watermarked stationary paper, Travis composed the Claimant Letter from 29 - 30 October while he was home on leave at his mother's residence after completing his first deployment with the [[U.S. Navy]] to the Mediterranean Sea.
Drinking contests broke out between the men, most notoriously between Danny Davies and [[Gould Coast|Larry Gould]], who got carried away and ordered everyone to "get cock-eyed drunk."


'''([[Claimant Letter|Full Article...]])'''
'''([[blowtorch (drink)|Full Article...]])'''