WThe 1755 Lisbon earthquake, also known as the Great Lisbon earthquake, impacted on Portugal on the morning of Saturday, 1 November, Feast of All Saints, at around 09:40 local time. In combination with subsequent fires and a tsunami, the earthquake almost totally destroyed Lisbon and adjoining areas. Seismologists today estimate the Lisbon earthquake had a magnitude of 8.4 on the moment magnitude scale, with its epicenter in the Atlantic Ocean about 200 km (120 mi) west-southwest of Cape St. Vincent. Chronologically it was the third known large scale earthquake to hit the city. Estimates place the death toll in Lisbon alone at between 30,000 and 50,000 people, making it one of the deadliest earthquakes in history.
WIn December 1777, the Moroccan Sultan Muhammad III included the United States in a list of countries to which Morocco’s ports were open. Morocco thus became the first country whose head of state publicly recognized the newly independent United States.
WThe Sieges of Ceuta were a series of blockades by Moroccan forces of the Spanish-held city of Ceuta on the North African coast. The first siege began on 23 October 1694 and finished in 1720 when reinforcements arrived. During the 26 years of the siege, the city underwent changes leading to the loss of its Portuguese character. While most of the military operations took place around the city walls, there were also small-scale penetrations by Spanish forces at various points on the Moroccan coast, and the seizure of shipping in the Strait of Gibraltar. The city was placed under a second siege in 1721 until 22 April 1727.
WThéodore Cornut, also Cornout, was a French mathematician and military architect of the 18th century, born in Avignon, who worked for the King of Morocco.
WThe Larache expedition occurred in June 1765 when French Navy troops attacked the Moroccan city of Larache following a bombardment of Salé and Rabat. It is an example of the sporadic failure of Western arms against local forces in colonial campaigns.
WThe Siege of Melilla was an attempt by the British-backed Sultanate of Morocco to capture the Spanish fortress of Melilla on the Moroccan Mediterranean coast. Mohammed ben Abdallah, then Sultan of Morocco, invested Melilla in December 1774 with a large army of Royal Moroccan soldiers and Algerian mercenaries. The city was defended by a small garrison under Irish-born Governor Don Juan Sherlocke until the siege was lifted by a relief fleet in March 1775.
WThe Siege of Ceuta was an armed confrontation between the Kingdom of Spain and the Kingdom of Morocco during the Spanish-Moroccan War of 1790-1791. The siege of this city was the central episode of this conflict.