When Christopher Columbus sailed out of the harbor of Sanlucar, Spain, to make his way to “The Indies” of Asia, he did not immediately sail into the unknown.  Like many explorers of the 15^th century, his first destination was the Canary Islands, off the west coast of Africa.  Columbus landed in the Canaries in August, 1492, and stayed there for close to a month while repairs were made to the Pinta’s troublesome rudder, and the Nina was outfitted with new square rigging.  While docked in the Canaries, the crew took on additional food and supplies to last for a voyage of a few weeks, until they reached Asia.

On September 6, 1492, the Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria left the harbor of Gomera in the Canary Islands, and on this date 517 years ago the three small caravels began sailing into the unknown. 

The maps that Columbus had at his disposal were generally in agreement that Asia was a relatively easy distance to sail from the Canaries.  In fact, many islanders there, as well as in Madeira and the Azores, claimed to have seen low lying land far off to the west.  All of the descriptions of this land were remarkably similar, lending credibility to the supposed sightings.

Between the erroneous early Renaissance maps and the sightings of phantom land, Columbus believed the Atlantic Ocean was only half as wide, or less, than what it actually is.  We now know that the land the islanders claimed to have seen was actually a mirage, brought on by specific atmospheric conditions that occasionally occur in the mid-latitudes of the Atlantic.  These mirages are sometimes seen even today. 

One cannot help but wonder what must have gone through Columbus’s mind as it became apparent that his conception of the world was significantly flawed.  Just three days after leaving the Canaries, he began misleading his crew on the distance they had traveled.  He began keeping two logs, one private log for his eyes only, and another which he shared with the crew.  The false log underestimated the distance traveled by about 15%.  Had he shared the actual distance with the crew, he understandably feared there would be a mutiny.  After all, no one had ever sailed so far from land before, and fear of the unknown could drive men to take desperate measures against their Admiral.

The mutiny never materialized.  Land was finally spotted in the wee hours of the morning on October 12, three or four weeks later than Columbus expected.  As he sailed along the northern coast of Cuba, Columbus was certain he was looking at Japan.  He held on to the belief that he had discovered a western route to Asia until the day he died, even after nearly every other explorer was convinced he had actually discovered a Mundo Novo, or New World.

Although Columbus demonstrated that the Atlantic Ocean was more than twice as wide as had previously been thought, the actual circumference of the globe continued to be grossly underestimated.  By the time of Columbus’s death in 1506, virtually everyone agreed that what was discovered in 1492 was something other than Asia.  However, everyone who considered such matters believed Asia was still nearby, maybe 500 or 1000 miles past the west coast of America.  That misconception would persist for another 30 years after Columbus’s discovery. 

In fact, exactly 30 years after Columbus set out from the Canary Islands, another great voyage of discovery came to an end.  On September 6, 1522, the lone remaining ship that had been under the command of Ferdinand Magellan arrived at the same Spanish port from which Columbus had left, Sanlucar.  On board were 18 starving men, their bodies ravaged by scurvy and malnutrition, their clothes hanging from their skeletal bodies in rags.  These emaciated men were the first to circumnavigate the globe.  The world, they discovered to their great detriment, was more than twice as large as they had thought, and four or five times larger than what Columbus had imagined. 

On this date in 1492, a few brave men set out on a voyage that would begin to redefine how we perceive our world.  On this date 30 years later, that redefinition was largely completed.