The big break for Aruba came in the 1920's when oil was discovered on the nearby island of Caracao. As construction materials were needed to extract the precious oil from the land of Caracao, much of the supplies were sourced from Aruba. This included sands and stone. Around this time, a small company, the British Equatorial Oil Company headed to Aruba. They were looking for a base of operations. They wanted to build a good harbour here to transport oil found in Venezuela by the Lago Petroleum Company. In 1927, this harbour opened in Saint Nicholas Bay. At the same time, an oil refinery was also in production on the other half the island, which was of course bringing in a substantial amount of income to those that resided on Aruba. It is believed that the arrival of the Lago Petroleum Company to the island of Aruba was one of the best things to happen to the area. Almost immediately it went from a rather impoverished area to one that was raking in a lot of money. If you take a little look at photographs from around this time then you will notice the change. Many of the small villages here made of nothing but stone huts expanded into modern era buildings. Particularly around the lake of of Maracaibo and the oil refinery here.

Whilst World War One passed Aruba by, the island was thrust right into the action when World War II rolled about. This was because of the oil refinery. Back then, the oil refinery at Lago was producing the majority of the fuel to power the air force of the allies, which of course meant that the Germans wanted to take it out. As a result, plenty of rather epic sea battles took place just off the coast of Aruba with the Americans trying to defend the oil refinery (spoiler: they succeeded).

Before the Germans decided to attack the Netherlands, they had carried out a number of recon missions throughout the area. They made the sensible decision (not really) of stationing a single German ship in the area when they attacked the Netherlands. The Malmok was quickly surrounded and the shop burned to a crisp. Shortly after this, the French arrived on the island with the intention of also helping to defend the oil refinery. The area around this time was heavily fortified, with anti-aircraft guns placed in Oranjestad with black outs around the area at night.

As you can probably guess, being a small island nation, the island of Aruba had a very small army, in fact, it was purely made up of volunteers. English and Scottish troops assisted these volunteers, but it was quickly established that these weren't enough. Instead, military service was installed into the region in the 1940's. In 1941, these people were relieved and the Americans entered the area.

The Americans made a number of changes to the area in the name of defence. This included installing a number of heavy bomber aircraft, making the air strip here longer, building parking locks and camouflaging different areas. In addition to this, areas were fenced off with barbed wire to protect the American installations. It certainly had an effect on the island inhabitants, but this was something that was sorely needed.

For the most part, the Americans defended the island pretty well, but there were a couple of problems on February 16th. This is when the island and its ships were attached by the German Submarine U-156. A lot of people were killed this night, many of them civilians. Perhaps the main reason for that is because education wasn't high when it came to bombings, and many people actually attracted the submarine to their location with their lights.

Now, the Lago Oil Refinery was almost destroyed this night, if not for a key mistake on the submarine which ended up killing the gunner (he forgot to unplug something which sent out a rather nasty explosion killing him and his assistant). This is a story which travels through the history of Aruba, and it probably is a mistake which saved the ally war, because without the oil from the refinery here, the battle surely would have been lost. After this point, the location was no longer lit up which meant that it could no longer be a target for the German Submarines, well, at least not as much of a target! Over the years, ever more frequent bombings and food shortage prompted many of the Arubians to leave the island, at least until the end of the war.

**** End of part 8 ****

The last thing gathered here which I was to discuss is Aloe. This was a plant that has been grown in the area since at the least the 1800's. Aruba is one of the only areas of the world in which this plant is grown. The main reason behind that is the fact that both the climate and the soil are perfect for allowing this plant to thrive. In fact, the content of this plant is at 22%, whereas the average throughout the rest of the world was only 15%. Again, the Dutch proved the Spanish wrong as this goes to show that the area really could be used for agriculture.

One of the pioneers of the Aloe production here was Jan Helenus Ferguson. You will find a road leading through the fields of Aloe actually named after him. The aloe that was produced on the island of Aruba was sent all over the world, with the rich colonies of America being a prime target for trade. Back then though, Aloe was only known for its laxative effects. It wasn't actually until the 19th century, the late half in fact, when we discovered just how much power the extract had for the health. Nowadays, you will find aloe listed as an ingredient in anything from beauty products to sun tan lotions, and yes, a great deal of the Aloe that went into these products actually came from the island of Aruba!

Now, let's jump back to the main history of Aruba, something which actually ties in with the production of these minerals, well the lack of production. With dwindling production of both Gold and Phosphate, Aruba didn't really have anything to sell to the world, and this was a task made even more difficult by the outbreak of World War One in Europe. As a result, those who inhabited Aruba needed to fall back on something. In this case, it was fishing and agriculture to make sure their needs were met. Sadly though, poverty was rampant, and death from starvation even more so.

**** End of part 7 ****

Let's start with Gold because it arguably is one of the most precious of the materials found on the island. The first Gold was actually discovered way back in 1725, rather than the 1800's. This was when the Dutch West India Company sent out explorer Paulus Printz to the area. His task was to find out whether Gold and Silver resided on the islands. He found nothing on the first two, but by the time he got to Aruba, he discovered some. Although at this time, the extraction of the small amount of gold here wasn't enough to make the project financially viable, which meant Paulus was called back to Amsterdam. However, in a time when amateur gold searchers were all the rage, a number of people around the Netherlands began to hear information about the spoils that could potentially be waiting on Aruba. Over 100 years later, people began to descend on Aruba with dreams of finding gold. In fact, during this time, more people headed to the island than ever before. Now, I won't go into a lot of depth on what was discovered over time, that is a rather long history, suffice to say though, there was a lot of gold here, and it seemed the area which the Spanish dubbed the 'useless islands' no longer seemed to be useless. Sure, there wasn't as much gold here as other areas of the world, but there certainly was enough to give a nice little boost to the economy.

This wasn't the only natural product that was exploited in Aruba though. During the 1800's, a new material was discovered here that wasn't as precious as gold, but certainly a lot more useful. This was phosphate, a sort of limestone made from the droppings of seagulls on the island. This was commonly used as fertilizer. An interesting fact here is that this Phosphate was actually a different colour to what had been seen before, in fact, it appeared in a multitude of different colours. This meant that it contributed to the name of Seroe Colorado, which literally means coloured hill. Over the years, Phosphate product picked up significantly. In fact, at one point, this material alone was bringing in enough money alone to finance the surrounding islands. However, the income of Phosphate was short lived, and as we entered the 19th century, sales eventually began to dry up, and it was no longer the powerhouse it used to be. Phosphate is still gathered from the region from time to time, but certainly not in the huge quantities that the area used to be known for, and due to advancements in technology it is unlikely whether production will ever get up to these levels again, which is a great shame.

**** End of part 6 ****

Probably one of the most important holidays in the calendar is the 4th July. It is a fantastic time to have a little party, and of course, see those traditional firework displays. It is also one of the best dates to go on vacation, after all, it isn't quite to the point where the majority of children will have left school, which means most tourist destinations are going to be relatively empty. Does this means that you need to sacrifice this celebration though? Not if you go to Aruba.

One of the most baffling things for many Americans is that Aruba, a Caribbean Island actually celebrates the 4th July, something which they don't really need to do, after all, the island isn't American at all. However, what you need to be aware of is that they aren't actually celebrating the holiday in the truest sense, more putting on a display for the hordes of Americans that descend on the island during the summer months, particularly during the 4th of July week.

What you need to be aware of is that not every hotel is going to be providing firework shows, in fact, the majority of them do not 'celebrate' 4th July. Your best bet will be to stay at one of the American chain hotels during the celebration as these normally do a display, although not always. This means that your best bets will be looking at hotels such as the Marriott, Hyatt and Divi. In the past, these hotels strictly offered the small firework shows only for their guests, but this has changed recently. I know for a fact that Hyatt and the Divi offer a show for their guests and the general public on the beach, so if you are at a loss about what to do on that day, then head to one of these resorts and it should be fine. It may be ideal to get in touch with them beforehand to see if they are going to be running an event or not, but they have done it every single year, so I think it is going to be unlikely. The great thing is, the majority of hotels don't run the events at the same time, which means you may be able to catch a couple of firework shows throughout the night.

One of the best ways to catch multiple firework displays is to catch a cruise on that day. You will find that many of them run on the fourth of July. They will sit just off the coast for you, so you can catch one of the fantastic displays, glass of wine in hand, and delicious food in front of you. Once that is over, they will make haste and go to do the next one!

If you are heading to Aruba, then I have a quick tip for you, something which many tourists don't actually do. This is to check the daily tourism newspapers every single day, particularly in the run up to the 4th July. You will be surprised at just how much information is included in these newspapers. In the run up to 4th of July, many people and hotels start to plan events which they never considered before, and quite often, the only way that you are going to find out about them is through these newspapers. Even if you aren't there for the 4th July, check them regularly. You will be surprised at just how much is going on in the area that is completely unknown about to most tourists, and I believe this is one of the best ways to get the most out of your trip to the island.

Remember, the hotels that actually offer fireworks on the 4th July varies every single year. Therefore, the best thing you can do before you travel is actually ask the hotel you are staying at whether they offer fireworks or not. If they don't, then give a call to other hotels in the area, preferably ones that are run by American hotel chains. If they are running a firework display, then it is likely that it will be held on the beach. Find out if you are allowed onto their beach during the celebration (many of them don't mind you entering their resort, after all, it is likely you will be spending money). If they don't, then as I mentioned previously, there are plenty of cruises that run around the area during the 4th July Fireworks which will enable you to catch them from the sea (it looks absolutely beautiful). If you are slightly more experienced, you may want to look into the idea of hiring a boat. Whatever happens though, make sure you don't miss those Fireworks when you are here, American or not!