The world consisted of a single enormous land mass surrounded by an unknown ocean. Sail too far, and you drop off the edge of the earth. So said the maps of the late 15th century. But geographers and mathematicians were beginning to think the world was round. Was there a sailor alive who would stake his life on their theory?
Christopher Columbus was a superb sailor. He was a flaming redhead, six feet tall, and he had a sense of mission. He would reach the treasure and spice of the Indies by sailing, not east, but west into the unknown. In the late 1470's. Columbus began searching Europe for a royal sponsor. He was turned down by the kings of Portugal, France, and England. Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain said no four times before the queen finally relented. But it took a royal command to convince the shipbuilders they should construct ships that, obviously, were going to sail off the edge of the earth.
There were three ships and fourty men under Columbus' command. On August 3, 1492 they sailed. And sailed and sailed. By October 12, 1492, Columbus sighted what he thought was China. In fact, what he sighted that morning was San Salvador in the Bahamas. During that month of October, Columbus also set foot on Cuban soil, hoping to find Peking. But till his dying day, Christopher Columbus never knew he had found
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