Columbus Day: Did Columbus Truly Discover America?

Columbus Day is officially observed on Monday, October 10, this year. It has been roughly 520 years since the Italian sailor captained three vessels across the Atlantic in search of trade route to the East Indies. Instead of circumnavigating the globe, Christopher Columbus became the man recognized for discovering America. Here are some interesting facts about Columbus, his storied voyage, and other explorers who may have a stronger claim to the Italian sailor's most famous discovery.

*Columbus was not the first European to sail to the Americas. He was preceded by Leif Erickson, an Icelandic explorer who is believed to have explored the coast of Canada and Newfoundland approximately 500 years before Columbus. Ruins of a Viking-type settlement were found by archeologists in 1963 at L'Anse Au Meadows, an area that is remarkably similar to Leif Erickson's description of "Vinland."

*Oddly enough, the official observance of "Leif Erickson Day" occurs on October 9 every year. The holiday is popular in the upper Midwest where a large number of immigrants from Norway and other Nordic countries have settled.

*Contrary to popular belief, Columbus did not attempt his famous voyage to prove the world was round. The misconception that the earth was flat was common in medieval times, but was largely discredited by 1492. His first trip to the new world did however prove that the earth was much larger than was originally thought. The size of the earth was a big part of his feasibility calculations, and upon returning to Spain he claimed that the Earth was pear-shaped, and that traveling across the bulge in the middle caused the distance to be much farther than expected.

*Columbus held to his assertions that the West Indies were in fact the easternmost regions of Asia until his death, and that the markets in Japan and India were only a little further away. Everyone around Columbus had figured out that the West Indies were lands that were previously unseen by Europeans by the time of his death in 1506.

*During the first voyage in 1492 Columbus had offered a reward to the first sailor who spotted land. Rodrigo de Triana is credited with the first sighting, but Columbus refused to pay him and awarded himself the reward instead because he had seen a "glow" the night before.

*Horses were re-introduced to North America by Columbus in the form of the Spanish Mustang. Several of the animals escaped captivity and successfully multiplied in the wild becoming prevalent in the American southwest by the time later explorers made their way across the Mississippi.

*The Spanish Mustang is a descendant of the Asian wild horse (Equus Ferus) which actually originated in the region that is now North America, and spread west to Asia and other areas. The horses in North America all died out after the Pleistocene era for reasons unknown. It would be correct to say that Columbus re-introduced the horse, which was actually genetically native to the lands he found.

*Columbus had been petitioning the Spanish Court since 1486 before a priest named Father Perez interceded on behalf of the Italian explorer.

*Columbus kept two log books to deceive the crew about the real length of the voyage. There was a near mutiny 33 days into the voyage, but luckily land was spotted the next day.

*Another Welsh explorer, Madoc Owain Gwynned is believed by some to have heavily explored America some 300 years before Columbus. Indians in the Ohio River Valley had recounted stories of a red haired fair skinned tribe that lends the story credence. Most of the proof is believed to be a forgery that was an attempt for England to assert a claim to land in North America.

*The Brandenburg stone, Kensington Runestone, and other runic writings that have been found all throughout America leads some researchers to conclude that there have been several colonies of Europeans in North America prior to 1492. Most of the inscriptions are thought to be property markers.