Questions tagged [christopher-columbus]
An Italian explorer active during the late 15th and early 16th centuries. His 1492 AD voyage to the New World kicked off a wave of European exploration and settlement in the Americas.
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How quickly did the knowledge of the existence of the new world spread into the old world?
After Columbus's voyage to the new world, how quickly did this knowledge spread into the other parts of the old world? For example, when did the existence of the new world become "common knowledge" (...
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What convinced the Europeans that they hadn't landed in Asia? [duplicate]
Famously, when Columbus (and several other European explorers) landed in the New World, they thought they'd reached Asia. Hence, for example, our use of the word "Indians" for the local peoples. ...
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How did Diego Gutiérrez know the boundaries (shape of the Americas) when he drew the 1562 Map of America
The map drawn by Diego Gutiérrez in 1562 shows both North and South American shapes (borders). How did he (or the 15th century Europeans) know the shapes of the American continents and their geography ...
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Did anyone in Europe predict the existence of the Americas?
According to the answer of this question, Columbus was pretty much unique in his belief that the world was small enough and Asia was big enough to make sailing west to Asia possible. Everyone else ...
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In 1492, what was the shortest distance you could travel to discover the new world from the old world? [closed]
In 1492, when Christopher Columbus brought the new world to the attention of the old world. What was the extent of the known world, and what was the shortest distance someone could have travelled to ...
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Why did Christopher Columbus think he had arrived near Japan?
This question came to our mind as a long discussion in chat between some users over ELU including me and we thought to post the question here. Wikipedia states he thought he had arrived Japan.
In ...
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Was Christopher Columbus Polish?
A Polish friend of mine stated that Columbus was of Polish heritage. Claims are made that he was a Polish immigrant to Italy, and that he came from a disgraced noble family in Poland.
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How did Columbus calculate the size of the Earth?
Eratosthenes' calculations of the size of the Earth were very precise and very accepted during Columbus' time. Still, Columbus was convinced that the world was significatively smaller and that getting ...
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What does 'half-decked' mean?
I'm reading Washington Irving's Life of Christopher Columbus, where he writes:
Two of them were light, half-decked caravels; the Santa Maria, on
which Columbus hoisted his flag, was completely ...
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Why aren't the Americas named after Christopher Columbus
I was reading the question Why is Columbus Credited with Discovering America, and I wondered why aren't the Americas named after him?
I was under the impression that although he is the one we credit ...
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Why is Christopher Columbus credited for "discovering" America?
Even if we ignore the millions of native Americans who lived in the continent before Columbus "discovered" it, even if we ignore other civilizations (eg: Polynesians, Phoenicians, Chinese, Arabs, etc.)...
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