Indy Posted has brought us 10 Columbus Day Facts, tidbits you probably didn’t know. Here is a run down:
1. In school you learned Columbus discovered America. The land he discovered was actually the Bahamas.
2. A lot of people regard Columbus as a hero, and the man who discovered America. But others actually think of him as the bringer of disease, slavery, and death.
3. In school your teachers said Columbus’ ships were called the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria. Too bad they lied. Except about the Pinta. The Long Island Press says the Santa Maria was called the Gallega, and the Nina was another name for the Santa Clara.
4. Columbus was addicted to opium, the drug used to make heroin.
5. Columbus apparently brought back a souvenir from America! Syphilis!
6. The portraits of Columbus are allegedly not genuine, so no one knows what he actually looked like.
7. Columbus Day didn’t become a National Holiday in the U.S. until 1937.
8. Columbus landed in the Bahamas on October 12th, 1492.
9. Experts believe that Christopher Columbus wasn’t even his real name. They think Crisstofa Corumbo is a closer match.
10. Apparently explorers in Columbus’ time did not believe the earth was flat, so they weren’t worried about falling off the edge of the world like we thought.
Happy Columbus Day everyone!