March 5, 2015
Microsoft cofounder, Paul Allen, announced that he had found the Musashi, one of Japan’s biggest and most famous battleships, on the seabed of Sibuyan Sea. Built during World War II, Musashi was one of three vessels built by Japan, at 263 meters (863 feet) each. American warplanes sank the Musashi on Oct. 24, 1944, at the height of the Battle of Leyte Gulf, regarded as the largest naval encounter of the war in which American and Australian forces defeated the Japanese. The discovery of the battleship came as the world marked the 70th anniversary of the war’s end.
March 9, 1917
Abra became a province with the passage of of Act No. 2683 by the Philippine Legislature. A landlocked province located on the northwestern side of Luzon, Abra has 27 municipalities. The province’s major industries include woodcraft, furnishing, coffee, corn and tobacco. It has a population of 241,160 in 2015.
Compiled by Kathleen de Villa, Inquirer Research
Sources: Inquirer Archives, DOT, proclamations.gov.ph, coa.gov.ph, abra.gov.ph