Historical Facts That You May Not Have Known About Christopher Columbus

Happy Columbus Day! Do we have ANY ideas why the federal government, banks, post offices and school kids take this day off?    Many of us have heard the poem that goes "In Fourteen Ninty-Two, Columbus sailed the ocean blue. He had three ships and left from Spain; He sailed through sunshine, wind and rain." There is more to the poem, but I think you catch the drift.

Today on the Top 5 at 7:45, I'll highlight some historical accounts about the explorer from Spain that you may not have known about.

1. Columbus Believed That His Voyage Was Directed By God Himself - In a writing that was translated into English, he writes, "It was the Lord who put into my mind (I could feel his hand upon me) that fact that it would be possible to sail from here to the Indies......There is no question that this inspiration came from the Holy Spirit."
2. Columbus Did Not Set Out To Prove The Earth Was Round - There was no need for Columbus to debunk the "flat-earthers" as the Greeks had already done that. By 1492, most educated people know that the earth was not flat.
3. Two Of His Ships Were Not Called By Their Original Names - Pina is Spanish for "prostitute" or "the painted one." The Santa Clara was nick named The Nina in honor of its owner Juan Nina. The Santa Maria is known by its original name, however it was nicknamed "La Gallega" after the province of Galicia, where it was built.
4. A Lunar Eclipse May Have Saved Columbus - In 1504, Columbus was stranded in Jamaica and the islanders were unwilling to give them food and half of his crew abandoned him. Columbus knew that there was a lunar eclipse coming to the night of February 29, 1504 and told them that his "god" was going to rise with wrath on that night because they gave him no food. The eclipse came, they got scared and Columbus ate good that night.
5. The Santa Maria Wrecked On Columbus' Historic Voyage - A cabin boy ran the ship into a coral reef and, amidst much effort to save the vessel, she was lost.

The Top 5 at 7:45 airs weekdays we me, Gary Freeman and sponsored by First Education Federal Credit Union. Happy Columbus day!