The vast, vital, unsung but often heroic contributions of the members of the US Coast and Geodetic Survey, a predecessor to the modern National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, in the second world war deserve to be remembered.
The Reconquista, or Christian reconquest of Iberia, took nearly 800 years. The fighting did not come without great attempts by Muslim powers across the strait trying to reestablish their presence in mainland Europe. The last gasp of that effort came in the 1330s, when the powerful Marinid sultanate of what is modern Morocco invaded in an attempt to reverse Christian gains and secure the perilous position of the Sultanate of Granada.