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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Why did Columbus cross the mid-Atlantic instead of exploring from Greenland?
Greenland was known to Europe since long before 1492. In fact, Leif Erikson reached modern Canadian lands around the year 1000, coming from Greenland. That journey was forgotten, but he chose a ...
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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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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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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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When Adam Smith discusses "corn" to what crop does he refer?
In "The Wealth Of Nations", Adam Smith discusses the price of corn in ancient times. Apparently, books such as "Chronicon Preciosum: or An Account of English Money, the Price of Corn and Other ...
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Did Columbus really never know he reached a new continent?
A widespread knowledge is that Columbus died without knowing he reached a new continent.
But:
In Columbus Journal of the Third Voyage (1498) it is written:
"I have come to believe that this is a ...
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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 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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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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Did Portuguese fisherman visit New England prior to 1492?
This might blow your mind a little bit, but one thing I notice, living in New England as I do, that there are the remnants of a tiny Portuguese community here going way, way back. For example, there ...
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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 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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Was a copy of Bobadilla's report on Christopher Columbus really found in a Spanish archive in 2006?
As claimed in The Guardian
A transcription of the document is apparently available on JSTOR here, the section "Pesquisa Del Comendador Francisco de Bobadilla".
I cannot read Spanish and otherwise ...
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Do Columbus' letters reveal that he was a Marrano? [closed]
In this popular CNN article, the author raises many arguments to prove that Columbus was a Marrano (hidden Jew), I found none to be very compelling besides for the following one:
At the top left-...
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What does "the purpose of history is ideological" mean? [closed]
I have this question which states "How does the story of Columbus illustrate that the purpose of history is ideological?" Unfortunately, I am having trouble understanding what exactly the question is ...
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