What was the world’s most famous navigational error? I’m not sure, but I think it might have been made by Christopher Columbus. About 529 years ago today, Columbus was trying to reach Asia, when he accidentally discovered the Bahamas. The accidental discovery reshaped the world, kicking off the European colonization of the Americas.
We’ve been celebrating his navigational error ever since. In early colonial America, Christopher Columbus was a symbol of American nationalism. His name was transformed into Columbia and used as a way to differentiate the new world from the old. The District of Columbia, the site of the nation’s capital, is named after the explorer.
When I was young, I remember hearing that Columbus proved that the Earth was round. He supposedly proved it by sailing west from Spain to reach Asia. But actually, the shape of the planet was well-known by Columbus’ time — and had been, for hundreds of years. I read an article some time back that believed that the common myth that Columbus defied the flat-Earth believers to make his voyage, comes from the (inaccurate) 1828 biography “The Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus,” written by Washington Irving, the author of “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.”
Columbus’ first voyage was made with three ships — the Niña, the Pinta and the Santa Maria. The Santa Maria ran aground and sank during Columbus’ first voyage. The Pinta returned home, but nobody knows what happened to it after that. The Niña continued to sail for years after its most famous voyage, but history lost track of the ship after a 1501 trading voyage.
Spain made Columbus the governor of the island of Hispaniola. He and his brothers, Bartolomeo and Diego, shared the rule of the fledgling Spanish colonists there for seven years — but their rule didn’t go particularly well. The brothers killed and enslaved many of the natives and hanged Spanish colonists who questioned their authority and rule. Columbus and his brothers were arrested and shipped back to Spain.… all were eventually released.
Spain originally promised Columbus 10% of all the riches found as a result of his discovery, but after his arrest, and his death in 1506, the government failed to honor the agreement. Columbus’ son, Diego, sued — saying his family not only deserved the money, but the right to govern all of America, not just the island Christopher Columbus discovered. This all led to lots of lawsuits over the years, and finally the family was granted lands and titles in Jamaica and Hispaniola and the government made an annual payment of 10,000 ducats to Columbus’ heirs.
Columbus’ burial location is unknown — He was buried and re-buried around the world several times, including Spain and Haiti.
Even though Columbus’ accomplishments have been celebrated for centuries, it didn’t become a federal holiday in the United States until 1934, under President Franklin Roosevelt. The first state to recognize Columbus Day as an official holiday was Colorado in 1905. Even though it’s a federal holiday, some states and cities choose not to formally observe the day — due to Columbus’ checkered past. Columbus, Ohio does not recognize Columbus Day as a city holiday. Many states and cities have replaced Columbus Day with Indigenous People’s Day.
Even though this holiday is one of those that we’ve chosen to celebrate on a Monday (or Friday) due to our obsession with three-day weekends, today is the actual day — you can celebrate it any way you wish…. no matter what you think, Columbus Day/Indigenous People Day should cover most of the bases.
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