October 12, 1492 is the end of the Middle Ages. The famous navigator Christopher Columbus discovered the New World.
On August 3, 1492, an Italian named Christopher Columbus and 90 sailors set off with the flagship ship "Santa Maria". Two more ships – “Niña” and “Pint”, follow him. They sail west. Three long months pass. The sailors, exhausted and sick, threaten to head east to return. Columbus encouraged them, convinced that they would discover the spice route of the East. On October 11, at 10 o'clock in the evening, Columbus noticed a light. “Pint” continues to sail and brings the news that the light is actually on land. Dawn the next morning – October 12 – the ships dock.
Christopher Columbus and his crew expect to see the natives of India and be introduced to the inn – their great leader. That is why they consider the first people they see to be Indians. They go ashore, dressed formally, kneel and thank God that they got there alive. They learn from the local population that the island is called Guanahani. Columbus named it San Salvador and immediately declared it a Spanish possession. When they land on another island – now called Cuba – they think they have reached Japan. After three consecutive voyages, Columbus remained in the dark. He dies rich and famous, but never realizes that he has discovered a land that few people knew existed.
Columbus stopped at an island that is now included in the Caribbean group. It was either Watling Island, or Grand Turk, or Samana Cay. In 1926, Watling Island was renamed San Salvador and recognized as the first discovered land of the New World, recalls the US Embassy in Sofia. Recently, however, they object to this claim. Three people from Miami, Florida, have started a movement to have Concepcion Island recognized as the island sighted by Columbus's men where they landed. This contradiction has not yet found its solution.
Centuries pass, during which this discovery is rarely noted. Even the continent bears the name not of Columbus, but of the Italian navigator Americo Vespucci. In 1792, a ceremony was organized in New York in honor of Columbus and a monument was dedicated to him. Soon after, the city of Washington was officially named the District of Columbia and became the capital of the United States. In 1892, at the beginning of Avenue “Columbus” /Columbus/ a monument to Columbus was erected in New York City. That same year, models of the navigator's three ships were shown at the Columbus Exposition in Chicago.
If Christopher Columbus hadn't been born in Italy, Americans might not have a Columbus Day. Proud of their compatriot, on October 12, 1866, New Yorkers of Italian descent organized the first celebration of the discovery of America. Next year, more Italian organizations from other cities prepare banquets, parades and dances for this date. When the Italians of San Francisco celebrated October 12 in 1869, they called it Columbus Day.
In 1905, Colorado became the first state to celebrate Columbus Day. In the decades that followed, it served as an example to other states. In 1937, President Franklin Roosevelt officially proclaimed October 12th as Columbus Day. Since 1971, this holiday has been celebrated on the second Monday of October.
While it is generally accepted that Christopher Columbus was the first European to discover the New World in the Americas, there is still some controversy surrounding this claim. According to some researchers and supporters of other travelers, before it was discovered by Columbus in 1492, America was discovered by the ancient Scandinavian Vikings and wandering Irish missionaries. This controversy will probably never be resolved to everyone's satisfaction, but 1992 marked the 500th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's discovery.