![]() ![]() Columbus made four voyages to the New World.Īlthough best known for his historic 1492 expedition, Columbus returned to the Americas three more times in the following decade. When Columbus returned to the settlement in the fall of 1493, none of the crew were found alive. Columbus returned to Spain aboard the Nina, but he had to leave nearly 40 crew members behind to start the first European settlement in the Americas-La Navidad. Its crew spent a very un-merry Christmas salvaging the Santa Maria’s cargo. On Christmas Eve of 1492, a cabin boy ran Columbus’s flagship into a coral reef on the northern coast of Hispaniola, near present-day Cap Haitien, Haiti. The Santa Maria wrecked on Columbus’ historic voyage. Although the Santa Maria is called by its official name, its nickname was La Gallega, after the province of Galicia in which it was built. Mariners dubbed one of the three ships on Columbus’s 1492 voyage the Pinta, Spanish for “the painted one” or “prostitute.” The Santa Clara, meanwhile, was nicknamed the Nina in honor of its owner, Juan Nino. Salty sailors, however, bestowed less-than-sacred nicknames upon their vessels. In 15th-century Spain, ships were traditionally named after saints. ![]() Nina and Pinta were not the actual names of two of Columbus’ three ships. Luckily for him, he ran into the uncharted Americas. Columbus dramatically underestimated the earth’s circumference and the size of the oceans. Royal advisors in Spain raised similar concerns to King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella. The experts told Columbus his calculations were wrong and that the voyage would take much longer than he thought. In Portugal, England and France, the response was the same: no. Three countries refused to back Columbus’ voyage.įor nearly a decade, Columbus lobbied European monarchies to bankroll his quest to discover a western sea route to Asia. While the United States commemorates Columbus-even though he never set foot on the North American mainland-with parades and a federal holiday, Leif Eriksson Day on October 9 receives little fanfare. Some historians even claim that Ireland’s Saint Brendan or other Celtic people crossed the Atlantic before Eriksson. That distinction is generally given to the Norse Viking Leif Eriksson, who is believed to have landed in present-day Newfoundland around 1000 A.D., almost five centuries before Columbus set sail. ![]() Columbus was likely not the first European to cross the Atlantic Ocean. By 1492, most educated people knew the planet was not shaped like a pancake. As early as the sixth century B.C., the Greek mathematician Pythagoras surmised the world was round, and two centuries later Aristotle backed him up with astronomical observations. There was no need for Christopher Columbus to debunk the flat-earthers-the ancient Greeks had already done so. Columbus didn’t set out to prove the earth was round.įorget those myths perpetuated by everyone from Washington Irving to Bugs Bunny. ![]()
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