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On this day, when I'm celebrating the 953rd anniversary of the Battle of Hastings, people who still give a damn about Columbus are insisting he never discovered anything. Because the Americas were already filled with people.
This is, of course, utter bollocks and only works if you try to restrict the use of the word "discover" to the very first person ever. Which makes no sense in English, as discover covers a lot of territory, pun intended.
Because discovery can be personal, as in "I've discovered this great new burrito place!" Of course, the restaurant's owners, staff, suppliers, customers, bankers, insurance brokers, et al, already know it's there, to say nothing of the local police, health inspector, food bloggers . . . you may be the 10,000th person to learn that Burrito-a-Go-Go is amazing, but to you, it is a discovery.
Which brings us back to Columbus. Yeah, several million natives from the Arctic Circle all the way down to Tierra del Fuego knew where they lived, it was news to Europeans. Because the only other landing by Europeans was the Norse who settled in Canada for about six months before either being wiped out or running for their ships or both. And Vinland went very quickly from history to legend to myth.
So when Colombus sailed west in search of Asia and ran into Hispanola instead, it was a discovery. A discovery with unimaginably tragic outcomes, but a discovery. Europeans learned there were lands across the Atlantic for the first time. That's a discovery.
I also dislike Indigenous Peoples Day, as those who push that tend to try to cover up the fact that the First Nations made war against each other as enthusiastically as Europeans did.
So, it's October 14th. Celebrate the Chicago Cubs winning the 1908 World Series over the Tigers or that on this date in 1947 Charles "Chuck" Yeager became the first man to travel faster than the speed of sound.
This is, of course, utter bollocks and only works if you try to restrict the use of the word "discover" to the very first person ever. Which makes no sense in English, as discover covers a lot of territory, pun intended.
Because discovery can be personal, as in "I've discovered this great new burrito place!" Of course, the restaurant's owners, staff, suppliers, customers, bankers, insurance brokers, et al, already know it's there, to say nothing of the local police, health inspector, food bloggers . . . you may be the 10,000th person to learn that Burrito-a-Go-Go is amazing, but to you, it is a discovery.
Which brings us back to Columbus. Yeah, several million natives from the Arctic Circle all the way down to Tierra del Fuego knew where they lived, it was news to Europeans. Because the only other landing by Europeans was the Norse who settled in Canada for about six months before either being wiped out or running for their ships or both. And Vinland went very quickly from history to legend to myth.
So when Colombus sailed west in search of Asia and ran into Hispanola instead, it was a discovery. A discovery with unimaginably tragic outcomes, but a discovery. Europeans learned there were lands across the Atlantic for the first time. That's a discovery.
I also dislike Indigenous Peoples Day, as those who push that tend to try to cover up the fact that the First Nations made war against each other as enthusiastically as Europeans did.
So, it's October 14th. Celebrate the Chicago Cubs winning the 1908 World Series over the Tigers or that on this date in 1947 Charles "Chuck" Yeager became the first man to travel faster than the speed of sound.
