1853 – A devastating oidium tuckeri FUNGUS ruins all the VINEYARDS in Pico, Azores; destroying their best cash crop, undermining the economy, and spurring immigration. – This need for new sources for the economy and increased desire for immigration seemed to perhaps especially effect the island of Pico, Azores. That islands previous main economic driver was vineyards, but after 1853 turned increasingly to whaling (shore & otherwise), with that resulting in many Picoense finding their way to the Americas. It is written that this island would hold an comparatively dominant involvement in that business from the 1890s to the mid-1950s.