THE STARTLING
MYTHS -- AND FACTS! -- ABOUT CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS!
by Vanessa Cortez, staff writer
[October 8, 2001]
[WeeklyUniverse.com] Like all seamen of his day, Columbus was a keen astronomer! -- a skill that came in handy when on his last voyage
in 1504, the gutsy "Admiral of the Ocean Sea" accurately predicted an upcoming
lunar eclipse -- and fooled local Indians into thinking he had supernatural
powers!
 That's just one of the startling facts
unearthed by a crack team of Weekly Universe correspondents about the amazing
life of the salty sailor!
The Weekly Universe has also
learned:
* Columbus Day is proudly
celebrated by Italian-Americans everywhere -- but amazingly! -- Columbus
may not even be Italian!
* Many historians believe
Columbus was born in the Italian port city of Genoa -- but others think
he was born on the island of Corsica -- as was Napoleon!
* Columbus was a fervent
Catholic
who believed God had chosen him for a great destiny -- but his folks may
have been "conversos"
-- converted Spanish Jews!
* Columbus wrote in Spanish
-- not Italian! -- his entire life!
* Other experts believe Columbus's
family tree included Vikings -- which goes a long way to explaining the
gutsy explorer's skill with a mast!
* At age 14, while many American
kids are thrilling to Treasure
Island, Columbus was a real-life pirate! -- yo-ho-hoing to Greece and
Iceland!
* Columbus never wanted to
prove the Earth was round! -- because everyone already knew it! His
goal was to find an overseas trade route to India and China -- because
Arab bandits made land travel risky!
* In 1484, Columbus gave
Portugal -- not Spain! -- first crack at his plan to sail West to China
-- but Portugal's King John II rejected Columbus's plans as too vague!
* King John was right!
Portugal's own Vasco
da Gama discovered an easier sea route to India -- by sailing around
Africa -- six years after Columbus found the New World!
* Contrary to popular myth,
Spain's svelte but thrifty Queen
Isabella never sold her jewelry to pay for Columbus's voyage!
She and hubby Ferdinand financed the trip partly through investors -- Italian
investors!
* Columbus's crew included
four jailbirds! A murderer who killed a man in a brawl -- and three
punks who helped him break out of prison!
* Contrary to popular myth,
Columbus's voyage to the New World was smooth- sailing! His ships
had food for a full year, and encountered no storms. But a huge hurricane
on the return voyage almost destroyed Columbus's tiny fleet!
* Columbus left Spain with
three ships, but returned with only two. The Santa Maria was shipwrecked
in 1492 -- on Christmas Day!
* Although many paintings
show Columbus coming ashore with a priest, the first voyage included no
priests! Five priests came on the second -- much larger -- voyage.
* The first white settlement
in the New World was a fortress on the island of Hispaniola (Haiti), erected in 1492 and christened "La Navidad." When Columbus
returned a year later, the found fortress empty -- Indians had massacred
all 38 men!
* But not the women -- because
there were none! Columbus didn't bring women until his third voyage
in 1498. The ladies was brought as wives for the Spanish colonialists
-- one lady for every ten guys! Some of the Spaniards eventually
took Indian wives.
* Columbus's first battle
with Indians was on St. Croix, on November 14, 1493. A gutsy fighter,
Columbus survived!
* Columbus introduced horses
into the New World. Although American Indians are known as skilled
cowpokes, until the arrival of Europeans -- there were no horses in America!
* Europeans also brought
smallpox to the New World.
* Indians gave Europeans
syphilis and tobacco.
* Although Columbus found
lots of islands, he never hit North America! He discovered South
America during his third voyage (1498--1500).
* Columbus died in 1506 --
never discovering that he'd discovered a new continent!
* No one knows Columbus's
finally
resting place! He was buried in Spain, then in 1536 his remains were
moved to Hispaniola (Haiti), then in 1899 they were returned to Spain,
and reburied in 1902 -- three years later!
* Parts of Columbus may also
lie in Italy and the Dominican Republic. For a while -- they were
in Cuba!
* Columbus died forgotten
-- but not poor! He died peacefully, relatively rich, and surrounded
by friends and family.
Vanessa Cortez is a Los Angeles based tabloid reporter who has investigated the occult underbelly of the entertainment industry. Read more about her journalism in Hollywood Witches.
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COLUMBUS DID NOT BRING V.D. TO THE NEW WORLD
Despite an
often repeated claim that Europeans "gave" venereal disease to Indians,
the opposite may be true! According to E. Michael Jones: "Syphilis
made its first appearance in Europe at the end of the fifteenth century.
Its arrival coincided with the discovery of the New World. In fact
the latter event was the necessary condition for its arrival in Europe
in the loins of Spanish soldiers." SOURCE: Monsters
From The Id, by E. Michael Jones, p. 114. |
On Fenruary 25, 2011, Jeannie emailed us:
"[Your article says that] 'Columbus introduced horses into the New World. Although American Indians are known as skilled cowpokes, until the arrival of Europeans -- there were no horses in America!'
"This is false, at least scientifically. It was the Mustang, a descendant of the horse (Equus ferus) that was re-introduced to America by the Spanish. Some or even many had escaped and became free roaming, or semi-feral on the plains of North America since then. Scientific evidence shows the horse (Equues ferus ferus) a true wild horseoriginated in North America and spread to other areas, yet did died out some time after the Pleistocene era in North America. The reasons may be uncertain, such as global cooling, or more likely over hunting and global cooling together.... I understand I may be nitpicking, but... Saying they were 'reintroduced after becoming extinct 12.000 years prior....' would be more factual.
Sources:
Evolution, Systematics, and Phylogeography of Pleistocene Horses in the New World: A Molecular Perspective, http://www.plosbiology.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pbio.0030241
Humans Might Have Wiped Out Wild Horses, http://www.livescience.com/717-humans-wiped-wild-horses.html" |
Copyright 2001 by WeeklyUniverse.com
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