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 Way Back When
Discovery of the New World
Way back when, in the year 1492, Christopher Columbus did sail in the Atlantic Ocean. He departed from Spain in search of a new route to Asia and gold, jewels and spices. On October 8, we celebrate Columbus Day, in honor of the day that Columbus spotted America. In Latin American countries, the day is celebrated not only as Columbus or Discoverer's Day, but also as the Day of the Race (El Da de la Raza), honoring the many different peoples of Latin America.
In Columbus' time, the only known route to Asia from Europe was to sail eastward across the Mediterranean Sea. They then had to travel by caravan through deserts and mountains. Europeans needed to find an easier route for their trading ships. Columbus was convinced that India and eastern Asia were on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean and that sailing west was the route to take. King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, the rulers of the Spanish kingdoms of Castile and Aragon, agreed to outfit three ships for Columbus. With his fleet of three ships the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria Columbus sailed west on August 3, 1492. On the 70th day of the voyage, October 12, 1492, the crew sighted land. They landed on one of the islands of the Bahamas, which Columbus named San Salvador. The island natives came down to the shore to see Columbus' ships. Thinking he had reached the East Indies, Columbus called these people Indians. Columbus had discovered what Europeans would call the New World of the Americas. Although the islands Columbus found were already inhabited and he never sat foot in North America, his voyage is important because it tied Europe with the Americas and eventually resulted in permanent European colonies in America. He also established the best route to the Americas and back to Europe!
However, almost 500 years before Christopher Columbus made his first voyage to the New World in 1492, the Vikings had discovered America. The tall, fair-haired Vikings, who lived in what are now Norway, Denmark, and Sweden, were fierce warriors and skillful sailors. Around the year 1000, a small group of Vikings landed on the northern coast of North America, with Leif Erikson as their leader. On October 9, we celebrate Leif Erikson Day. This presidentially proclaimed day (originally proclaimed in 1964) celebrates the first Viking explorations at the beginning of the last millennium.
Leif Erikson and his men braved the unknown and risked their lives to become the first Europeans to set foot on North American soil. The 2001 Presidential Proclamation reads: As we reflect upon Eriksons groundbreaking achievements and marvel at the adversity and dangers he and his explorers endured, we are thankful for their great endeavor and recognize that achieving difficult goals requires people who are courageous and willing to sacrifice, who take action and take risks.
Source: Meltzer, Milton, "Columbus, Christopher"; Leif Erikson, The New Book of Knowledge. Columbus, Christopher, Encyclopdia Britannica.
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