THE GREAT ONES
Christopher Columbus
V.K. SUBRAMANIAN
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Christopher Columbus, (1451 A.D. – May 20, 1506) ambition was to reach India, travelling westward from Europe.
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Illustration: V.K. SUBRAMANIAN
Christopher Columbus, the Italian-born voyager, is the discoverer of the New World which includes America.
The passion to travel and discover new lands was in his blood from a very early age. His ambition was to reach India, travelling westward from Europe (since the earth is round).
Thanks to the patronage of the Spanish monarchs, Ferdinand and Isabella, he started on his first voyage by sea in 1492 in three small ships called Santa Maria, Nina and Pinta and after 10 weeks of arduous journey reached an island in the Bahamas. Later he found other islands, including present day Haiti.
Dream journey
Columbus made three more journeys to the New World landing on Puerto Rico, Jamaica, Trinidad and mainland South America.
Believing that he had reached India, he called the aborigines of the islands he discovered “Indians”.
The most powerful nation on earth would not have come into existence but for the dream pursued by a seaman of humble and obscure origins.
A jealous courtier of the Spanish court remarked that if Columbus had not discovered the New World, someone else would have. Columbus did not reply but took an egg on his hand and asked the guests to make it stand on one end. Everyone tried and failed. Columbus then took the egg, cracked it on one end so as to flatten it and placed the egg standing on the cracked, flat end. The point made was: Once he had shown the way, others could follow.
This is an extract from the book The Great Ones by V.K.Subramanian, Abhinav Publications, New Delhi
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