Christopher Columbus

As I mentioned in class, Europeans were well aware that the Earth was round (spherical actually) at the time of Columbus. Columbus' desire to sail westward to the Indies was actually based on two false beliefs: 1. that the Earth was actually smaller (about 2/3) than it actually is and 2.) that Asia was much larger than it is. Therefore, by his calculations he could reach Asia in just a few months by crossing the Atlantic Ocean. He, and everyone else, were also unaware that there were two continents in the way.

Here is a recreation of the map by Toscanelli that Columbus used as a reference for his voyages (the outline of North and South America was not on the original map of course).



Here is a fun, but not completely accurate, video about Columbus:



Magellan was the first explorer to lead a voyage that circumnavigated (sail completely around) the Earth. Magellan was killed about 2/3 of the way through the voyage, and only one of the five ships that originally sailed made it back to Europe.

Here's a fun video about Magellan: