Re: This Day In History ...

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: : On October 12, 1492 Cristoforo Colombo stepped upon the sands of a small caribbean island, called Guanahani by the Taino people, and made history. Rightly so. His epic voyage across the green sea of darkness, amidst fear, threats, doubt, and severe tribulations had finally come to an end ... and a beginning. Over 500 years later there still remains mysteries & controversies, praise and condemnation, honor and hatred directed at this one individual who had the courage, conviction, and fortitude to see his life long dream materialize; east by west ... a new route to the orient by sailing west across what was then an unknown sea of terror. The sea that had captivated the imaginings of the weaver's young son; the sea that permeated sailors' tales of great monsters, angry waters, and a dark abyss that waited to swallow any vessel that dared to venture too far from the Euro-African coasts; the sea that each night welcomed the setting sun and convinced the Genoan navigator the world was indeed round. The sea ... always, it was about the sea. 

: : The landing at and discovery of Guanahani, afterward known as San Salvador, was to impact upon the western world, the entire world, as no other event had done in 1500 years. One can condemn, mock, criticize, question, and even alter the record of the man and the event but the fact remains - Cristoforo Colombo had a dream and a plan that he bravely implemented and followed through to completion. That there were two large continents hitherto unknown & undiscovered (yes, 'discovered' is a correct term as it is from the point of view of knowing of something that before was not known; the Americas to the REST of the world & the rest of the world to the inhabitants of the Americas) does not diminish the magnitude of the feat, the wisdom of the man (who was correct in his theory), or the greatness of the event.

: : It was a moment in time that reshaped history - how can it not be worthy of acknowledged greatness?

: : Happy Columbus Day ... 

: ~~~

: Hi Elaine,

: I was lurking on another board and came across an interesting post about Mr. Columbus.  In a weekly newspaper, there is a column that displays answers from Elementary School children to questions about various topics.  The question related to this post was about Christopher Columbus.  The answer supplied below, was from a 9 yr old:

: 'What we know about the world today that Christopher Columbus didn't know 500 years ago is that the Native Americans were kind and friendly, but didn't want company'.

: ..Jeri


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