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300-Year-Old San José Shipwreck Making Waves In Colombia

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An illustration depicts a Spanish galleon of the mid-16th century on the high seas. (Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
An illustration depicts a Spanish galleon of the mid-16th century on the high seas. (Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

The San José, a Spanish ship carrying 600 people and an estimated $10 billion worth of treasure - sank on June 8, 1708, somewhere near Colombia. That was the last it was heard of until this weekend, when Colombian president Juan Manuel Santos announced "Great news: we found the galleon San José!"

The discovery, Santos said, was made on November 27, and he called it one of the "biggest findings and identification of underwater heritage in the history of humanity."

History professor Carla Rahn Phillips, who wrote the 2011 book "The Treasure of the San José: Death at Sea in the War of the Spanish Succession," joins Here & Now's Eric Westervelt to talk about the San José and its historical significance.

Guest

  • Carla Rahn Phillips, professor of history at the University of Minnesota and author of "The Treasure of the San Jose."

This segment aired on December 7, 2015.

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