The year was 1492 and the place Spain, and here in the court of King Ferdinand, a sailor cum adventurer had been, for years, trying to convince the King to let his — the sailor’s — ship sail through the eastern oceans. The sailor was convinced that he would find a new, shorter route to Japan and the fabled riches of the east. The man was Christopher Columbus.
Nearly thousand years ago, when a great part of Europe was still plunged into the dark ages, the sea faring warriors called the Vikings, had made numerous voyages towards the eastern unknown parts of nomic resources of the east could easily be tapped through a shorter sea route. It was to accomplish this purpose that he first visited the Portuguese monarch, King John, where art outright no waited for Columbus.
It was then that Columbus turned to Spain for help, ‘Give me ships and I’ll get to East by sailing West’. King Ferdinand refused. Yet surprisingly Christopher found an ally in Queen Isabella, and it was through her help that he got his armada of three vessels, Santa Maria, Pinta and Nina.
Columbus started towards his unknown destination in September 1492. So confident was Columbus of reaching the spicy lands of the East that he even carried a letter from King Ferdinand addressed to the ruler of Japan. For two months the ships sailed towards what was generally referred to in those times as the ‘edge of the world’. The crew reached the stage of mutiny, but Christopher was adamant. He set out for land and he was going to get it.
Finally, on the 71st day, “Tierra Tierra” (Land Land) echoed from the crow’s nest of Pinta. A minute later her cannons boomed. Distant cliffs in shimmering moonlight could be seen. Overjoyed beyond belief, the seamen celebrated. But instead of finding the spice lands of the east, Columbus discovered a whole new world. A land where people had red skin. A land later called America.
After returning from his historic journey, Christopher found out that he had made an error in his calculations. This error later came to be known as the ‘error which changed the course of history — forever’.This was the tale an accidental discovery of America.
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