Poor Columbus.

Almost none of what we learned about Columbus back when kids in grade
school turns out to be true.

Back in the 50's and 60's, they used to teach us that Columbus
dispelled the popular notion that the world was flat. Wrong, of course.
Since the days of Aristotle nearly all educated people knew the world
was basically a sphere.

Then they taught us that Columbus "discovered America". Not true of
course, as the millions of people already living here must have somehow
"discovered" it many many thousands of years previously. To correct
this obvious error, revisionists were quick to point out that the
Vikings had discovered American hundreds of years before Columbus, but
figured that nothing of any consequnce could ever be developed there
and eventually abandoned their colonies.

They taught us that Columbus assumed he had landed in India. Nonsense
again. Northern European markets were awash in salted cod from the
banks in the western Atlantic long before Columbus sailed the ocean
blue. Seamen knew what was out there, what direction to sail to get
there, and about how far away it was.

One of the great controversies in the time of Columbus was the biblical
challenge associated with western hemisphere. The Bible mentioned
Africa and Asia, so the Church had no problem acknowledging that those
regions existed. Since the Bible did not mention the western continent,
the Church feared that a broad awareness of the western lands might
undermine the concept of Biblical infallibility (and therefore Church
authority). In a time when the Inquisition was burning, crucifying,
branding, and banishing "heretics", the Spanish monarchs and Columbus
had little choice except to disguise their voyage to the western
continent as a passage to "India."

But hats off to Columbus. He made a relatively hazardous voyage, laid
the foundation for the vast wealth of the fledgling Spanish Empire, and
was one of the better spin meisters of his day. :-)

Oh, and one final thing they got wrong about Columbus. His name. His
name wasn't really Christopher Columbus, but rather Cristobal Colon.