Who is Christopher Columbus?-Day 73

Happy Wednesday and may you have a wonderful day. Happy Columbus day.

This is Columbus day. Today the children are out of school. Government and most businesses are closed in acknowledgment of Christopher Columbus. But do we really know who this man is. Do we know how he contributed to American history? Ord do we just take this day and "celebrate" by just having a day off?

Who is Christopher Columbus? According to Wikipedia:

"Christopher Columbus (c. 1451 – 20 May 1506) was a navigator, colonizer and explorer whose voyages across the Atlantic Ocean led to general European awareness of the American continents in the Western Hemisphere. With his four voyages of exploration and several attempts at establishing a settlement on the island of Hispaniola, all funded by Isabella I of Castile, he initiated the process of Spanish colonization which foreshadowed general European colonization of the "New World."
Although not the first to reach the Americas from Europe—he was preceded by at least one other group, the Norse, led by Leif Ericson, who built a temporary settlement 500 years earlier at L'Anse aux Meadows[1]— Columbus initiated widespread contact between Europeans and indigenous Americans.
The term "pre-Columbian" is usually used to refer to the peoples and cultures of the Americas before the arrival of Columbus and his European successors.
Even though the general belief during the 20th century was that he was born in Genoa, there are other theories. Recent studies have indicated that Columbus may have been Catalan[2], though these theories have found little support amongst historians and linguists.[3] The name Christopher Columbus is the Anglicisation of the Latin Christophorus Columbus. The original name in 15th century Genoese language was Christoffa[4] Corombo[5] (pronounced [kriˈʃtɔffa kuˈɹuŋbu]) The name is rendered in modern Italian as Cristoforo Colombo, in Portuguese as Cristóvão Colombo (formerly Christovam Colom), in Catalan as Cristòfor Colom and in Spanish as Cristóbal Colón.
Columbus's initial 1492 voyage came at a critical time of growing national imperialism and economic competition between developing nation states seeking wealth from the establishment of trade routes and colonies. In this sociopolitical climate, Columbus's far-fetched scheme won the attention of Isabella I of Castile. Severely underestimating the circumference of the Earth, he estimated that a westward route from Iberia to the Indies would be shorter than the overland trade route through Arabia. If true, this would allow Spain entry into the lucrative spice trade — heretofore commanded by the Arabs and Italians. Following his plotted course, he instead landed within the Bahamas Archipelago at a locale he named San Salvador. Mistaking the North-American island for the East-Asian mainland, he referred to its inhabitants as "Indios"."


Why do we celebrate Christopher Columbus? According to Wikipedia:

Although among non-Native Americans Christopher Columbus is traditionally considered the discoverer of America, Columbus was preceded by the various cultures and civilizations of the indigenous peoples of the Americas, as well as the Western world's Vikings at L'Anse aux Meadows. He is regarded more accurately as the person who brought the Americas into the forefront of Western attention. "Columbus' claim to fame isn't that he got there first," explains historian Martin Dugard, "it's that he stayed."[44] The popular idea that he was first person to envision a rounded earth is false. The rounded shape of the earth has already been known in ancient times. Jeffrey Russell states that the modern view that people of the Middle Ages believed that the Earth was flat is said to have entered the popular imagination in the 19th century, thanks largely to the publication of Washington Irving's fantasy The Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus in 1828.[45] By Columbus's time, educated men were in agreement as to its spherical shape, even if many people believed otherwise. More contentious was the size of the earth, and whether it was possible in practical terms to cross such a vast body of water: the longest any ship (European or otherwise) had gone without making landfall did not much exceed 30 days when Columbus embarked on his first audacious voyage lasting 36 days across the Atlantic Ocean (from the Canari Islands).
(emphasis added)

So it is important to know why days are celebrated and the history behind the names. Not just knowing that the "day" is one that is "taken off" or that government offices and many businesses are closed. We need to know why. Why need to be informed as to knowledge behind the name. Remember, as I have mentioned too many times to repeat, knowledge is power. Be informed, not just going along because everyone else is. Stand out from the crowd.

Most important be the best you can be, and always hep others. Why? Because someone helped you. Remember?

This is why we celebrate "Christopher Columbus" because he helped to discover America. Know the facts.

Have a great day,


L. for Love