In 1492, He Sailed The Ocean Blue

Christopher Columbus is often painted as somewhat of a hero in North America because of his work discovering the place we call home. We all think we know about him but there are plenty of lesser-known, sometimes less-than-glamorous facts about him that they don't teach in school. Well, we're here to spill the beans about the real Columbus: here are 20 lesser-known truths. 

L. Prang & Co. on Wikimedia Commons

1. He Stole Gold

One of the big reasons why he wanted to go to Asia in the first place was to find the Japanese gold Marco Polo wrote about. Although Columbus never struck the jackpot when it came to this precious metal, it didn't stop him from stealing any modest bits the Indigenous Americans had. 

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2. He Kidnapped People

After not finding many of the Asian wares he expected, Columbus kidnapped over 500 indigenous and sent them back to Spain as a commodity. As slavery wasn't at that time a common practice in Europe, Queen Isabella of Spain was reportedly scandalized and rejected his offer. 

François-Auguste Biard on Wikimedia Commons

3. He Thought the Earth Was Very Small

Although he studied mathematics, it's probably safe to say it wasn't his strong suit as he vastly undercalculated the distance from Spain to Japan. He thought it was 2,400 miles when in fact it's more like 11,000.

Sebastiano del Piombo on Wikimedia Commons

4. He Didn't Set Out to Prove the World Was Round

Most of us were taught in school that the purpose of Columbus's voyage was to prove the earth was round. In fact, that had already been well-established by the ancient Greeks. 

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5. He Thought the Earth Was Pear-Shaped

Based on his readings of the angle of the North Star, Columbus suggested the earth was pear-shaped back in 1498. This may sounds crazy but it's actually a theory shared with Isaac Newton and Christiaan Huygens and there may be some truth to it. 

Library of Congress on Wikimedia Commons

6. He Didn't Discover America

Even if you put aside the obvious fact that there were already scores of Indigenous people in the Americas, Columbus still wasn't the first person to discover them. Historians agree the Viking Leif Erikson beat him to it about five centuries sooner. 

L. Prang & Co. on Wikimedia Commons

7. He Always Thought the Americas Were Asia

You might reasonably think that Columbus would've eventually realized that the land he discovered wasn't really Asia. However, he died still believing that his discovery was nothing more than a shortcut to Asia. 

Henry Linton on Wikimedia Commons

8. He Was Arrested

At some point, a Spanish officer was sent to the Americas to assist Columbus and what he found was total mayhem. A cocky Columbus refused to follow the officer's orders and was thus brought back across the Atlantic in shackles. 

Benson John Lossing on Wikimedia Commons

9. He Was Far From the First European to Cross the Atlantic

Aside from Leif Eriksson, there's some evidence to suggest Ireland’s Saint Brendan and other Celtic explorers managed to cross the sea before Columbus. Regardless, Columbus day is a celebrated holiday in the US, even though he didn't even touch mainland America as Eriksson did.

Krohg, Christian on Wikimedia Commons

10. Three Countries Refused to Bankroll his Voyage

Columbus had to do a fair bit of lobbying to get funding for his voyage, getting turned down by France, England, and Spain at first. The rejections were largely due to other experts disagreeing with his calculations, accusing him (rightly) of under-estimating the circumference of the planet. 

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11. His Ships Were Named After Ladies of the Night

It was common practice to name ships after saints in those days. However, Columbus and his cheeky sailors took a different route, naming their ships after famous ladies of the night. 

 N. C. Wyeth on Wikimedia Commons

12. 40 of His Crew Stayed Behind to Start a Colony

Columbus left 40 of his crew to stay behind in the new world to live amongst the indigenous and start a colony. Unfortunately, by the time someone came back to check on them, they had all perished. 

Theodor De Bry on Wikimedia Commons

13. The Santa Maria Sank

One of his three ships, The Santa Maria didn't make the voyage. It crashed into a coral reef and wrecked near Haiti on Christmas Eve leaving the crew scrounging to salvage its cargo all Christmas. 

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14. He Made Four Voyages to the Americas

Despite his famous 1492 journey being the best-known, he made the trek across the ocean four times, always expanding further into the continent. He visited the Caribbean islands, South America, and Central America on his journeys. 

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15. His Heirs Fought the Spanish Crown For 300 Years

After his death, Columbus's heirs entered into a lengthy legal battle with the Spanish monarchy over what they believed they were owed from his explorations. The proceedings weren't fully resolved until 1792, a whole 300 years after his initial voyage. 

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16. He Was Driven By Greed

In school, we're taught a rather idyllic version of Columbus as an adventurous genius with an insatiable curiosity. In fact, he was obsessed with gold and riches which were the entire motivation of his journey. 

Ridolfo del Ghirlandaio on Wikimedia Commons

17. He Was a Ruthless Leader

There's an enormous amount of evidence suggesting Columbus was a notorious tyrant, even compared to the time frame in which he lived. First hand accounts tell of the tremendous suffering he inflicted upon Indigenous Americans and Spanish subjects alike.

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18. The Closest He Ever Got to Asia Was the Greek Islands

Columbus would probably be rolling in his grave at the fact that he never even got close to Asia. The closest he got was the Greek island of Khios on an expedition as a young sailor. 

Estsiiri on Wikimedia Commons

19. He Was Attacked by Pirates

Columbus's career as a sailor was cut short when pirates attacked the fleet of ships he was crewing. He managed to escape with his life, clinging onto a plank of wood and eventually floating ashore Portugal. It was then that he decided to leave sailing and study cartography which eventually planted the seed of his idea to navigate west to Asia.

John Masey Wright on Wikimedia Commons

20. The Object of his Plan Was to Cut Out the Muslim Middlemen

Columbus's idea to find a western passage coincided with the end of one of the longest wars in history "The Reconquista," Spain's battle with Muslim kingdoms over the Iberian peninsula. Columbus managed to sell his idea to Spanish leaders as a way to forego reliance on Muslim merchants who controlled much of the waterways to Asia at that time.  

Wellcome Collection gallery on Wikimedia Commmons