The mask can be seen today at the National Museum, Quito, Ecuador. When Christopher Columbus returned to Spain from his first voyage to the Americas, he brought news of a people adorned with gold.

1626: An explosion at the Wanggongchang Gunpowder Factory in Beijing destroys part of the city and kills 20,000 people. 1640: Flemish Baroque painter Peter Paul Rubens dies aged 62.

At the PNC Championship late last year, I was in the small crowd that had assembled to hear Lee Trevino hold court on the driving range. Between—and often during— the rapid-fire, bullet draws ...