Five Facts About Christopher Columbus - International Inside

Christopher Columbus, the Italian explorer, who sailed under the auspices of the Spanish court, remains a controversial figure to this day.

Here are five facts about this fascinating man.

Fact #1 – Christopher Columbus was not his real name

Scholars are unsure of precisely the year in which Columbus was born, and both 1450 and 1451 are acceptable. He was born in Genoa to a wool merchant and his wife and named Cristoforo Colombo. The name Christopher Columbus is an Anglicized version of his proper name.

Fact #2 – He wrongly calculated the distance between the Canary Islands and Japan

Columbus was determined to find a safe westward passage between Europe and Japan. He knew the earth was a sphere, and he calculated the distance between the Canary Islands and Japan to be approximately 2,300 miles.

He used his calculations to approach several governments to fund an expedition to find this westward passage. Still, many of his contemporaries disagreed with his calculations. They determined the distance from the Canary Islands to Japan to be in the region of 12,200 miles, based on the centuries-old estimate that the circumference of the earth was 25,000 miles. This was the reason that 

This was the reason that the Portuguese court, Genoa, Venice, and the English courts all rejected his plan. His expedition seemed doomed until he persuaded the Spanish court to fund the expedition for him.

Fact #3 – He did not discover America

It is a common myth that Christopher Columbus discovered America. Still, it is not true as that accolade belongs to Leif Eriksson, a Viking trader who landed in what is now known as Newfoundland five centuries before Columbus left Spain. Many scholars believe Irish sailors also crossed the Atlantic centuries before Columbus arrived.

Columbus led four expeditions between 1492 and 1503 and did not land on the North American continent. He had arrived in the Caribbean Islands around Cuba, the Bahamas, and Hispaniola, and he also made landfall in Central and South America. Hispaniola is the island that is now shared between Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

Fact #4 – He firmly believed he had reached Asia

The entire basis for his expeditions was not to find a new continent but to sail westwards to Asia. In the late-1400’s, the route to the lucrative spice and silk trade with Asia was a long and challenging voyage. It was impossible to travel overland to Asia as there were many hostile armies in the way, so the only choice was to sail around the Cape of Good Hope.

Fact #5 – He was not rewarded for his discoveries

After his first expedition, the Spanish court was very impressed with Columbus, and he was richly rewarded, but by the end of his last expedition, he was returned to Spain in shackles and stripped of all his titles. This was as a result of his and his brothers, appalling and harsh treatment of the native peoples.

Columbus will always remain a controversial figure, but one fact that is irrefutable is that his expeditions had a significant impact on history. Today, the Columbia Exchange is the name given to the process, started by Columbus, of exchanging plants, animals, and culture from one part of the globe to another.

Sadly, another result of this exchange is disease. Native peoples of the Americas had no resistance to European diseases, and many populations were utterly destroyed by diseases such as smallpox, thus denying the world any hope of understanding these vibrant cultures.

In spite of all this, Columbus remains a larger-than-life figure and a courageous explorer.