# Report on Columbus **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [December 5, 2007, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/report-on-columbus/428876 "2007-12-05T03:28:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2007, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/report-on-columbus/428876/1 "2007-12-05T03:28:24Z")
[Where does that “1492/ocean blue” thing about Columbus come from? And what was Columbus’s deal, anyway?](http://straightdope.com/mailbag/mcolumbus.html) Once again, **Gfactor** writes a very well-researched report. Impressive. And, his writing doesn’t suck. Also impressive. ---
**Author:** ![Gfactor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@Gfactor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gfactor)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2007, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/report-on-columbus/428876/2 "2007-12-05T14:11:24Z")
And thanks to **samclem** , without whom I might have concluded that the 1492 bit really was written by Winifred Sackville Stoner, Jr. ---
**Author:** ![John\_W.Kennedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_w.kennedy/32/1031_2.png) [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2007, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/report-on-columbus/428876/3 "2007-12-05T15:29:58Z")
I was unaware of the debt owed by Columbus to the Federal-period identity crisis. It explains, I suppose, why Washington Irving was willing to tell such outrageous lies (cf. Parson Weems). ---
**Author:** ![Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Speaker_for_the_Dead)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2007, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/report-on-columbus/428876/4 "2007-12-05T17:25:08Z")
A couple of the links–regarding arthritis and the 1492 globe–don’t work for me. ---
**Author:** ![Gfactor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@Gfactor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gfactor)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2007, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/report-on-columbus/428876/5 "2007-12-05T18:01:33Z")
Thanks for the info on the links. Good link for reactive arthritis: [http://www.uth.tmc.edu/med/comm/alumniMag/2006-Spring/articles/article-01a-explorer.html](http://www.uth.tmc.edu/med/comm/alumniMag/2006-Spring/articles/article-01a-explorer.html) The site that hosts the globe image appears to be down. You can see it here: > **[The Early History of World Maps - Maps Gps Info](http://www.maps-gps-info.com/history-of-world-maps/)** > > The following history of world maps is a condensed version covering the period from the ancients until the sixteenth century. Scroll to the bottom of the page for a link to much more information on…Read More [![](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Behaims_Erdapfel.jpg) ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Behaims_Erdapfel.jpg) facsimile: [http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/greavesandthomas/facsimile/globe\_behaim.html](http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/greavesandthomas/facsimile/globe_behaim.html) And it’s on the Germanisches National Museum’s splash page: [http://www.gnm.de/](http://www.gnm.de/) ---
**Author:** ![John\_W.Kennedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_w.kennedy/32/1031_2.png) [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2007, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/report-on-columbus/428876/6 "2007-12-05T18:26:25Z")
[QUOTE=Gfactor] Thanks for the info on the links. Good link for reactive arthritis: [UTHealth--Content deletion warning](http://www.uth.tmc.edu/med/comm/alumniMag/2006-Spring/articles/article-01a-explorer.html) The site that hosts the globe image appears to be down. I’ll hunt for a replacement. [/QUOTE] It’s available via [archive.org](http://archive.org). ---
**Author:** ![Gfactor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@Gfactor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gfactor)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2007, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/report-on-columbus/428876/7 "2007-12-05T18:35:12Z")
[QUOTE=John W. Kennedy] It’s available via [archive.org](http://archive.org). [/QUOTE] Yes: [258 Martin Behaim's Globe, 1492](http://web.archive.org/web/20070824201803/http://www.henry-davis.com/MAPS/LMwebpages/258.html) ---
**Author:** ![Starby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/977dab/32.png) [@Starby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starby)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2007, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/report-on-columbus/428876/8 "2007-12-06T05:59:13Z")
My mother, a teacher at an all-girl’s Catholic high school at the time, taught me this little ditty when I was about 11 . . . “In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue He hit a rock Broke his cock And pissed all over the crew!” Well, she WAS a strange mother . . .but I always remembered that date. It’s not often I can trot that lil’ poem out to company . . . :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2007, 9:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/report-on-columbus/428876/9 "2007-12-06T09:54:38Z")
I would like to point out that the statement, “Columbus never set foot on the continent where the U.S. would ultimately be established” from the report is incorrect. Central America is technically part of the continent of North America, and Columbus certainly had his footprints all over the sand in Nicaragua and Panama. ---
**Author:** ![Gfactor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@Gfactor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gfactor)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2007, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/report-on-columbus/428876/10 "2007-12-06T13:01:37Z")
[QUOTE=DSYoungEsq] I would like to point out that the statement, “Columbus never set foot on the continent where the U.S. would ultimately be established” from the report is incorrect. [/QUOTE] Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2007, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/report-on-columbus/428876/11 "2007-12-06T21:05:10Z")
[QUOTE=Gfactor] Thanks. [/QUOTE] Um, other than that little faux pas, it was a very enjoyable report to read. 🙂 I like your style, as I think you know. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![h.sapiens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e0b2c6/32.png) [@h.sapiens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/h.sapiens)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2007, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/report-on-columbus/428876/12 "2007-12-12T17:21:06Z")
You know, this report reminded me of something I’ve been curious about for a while. Does anyone know who originated the idea that Columbus set out to prove that the world was round, while the rest of Europe thought he’d “sail off the edge” before he got to the Indies? It seems to have been around forever, and it turns up in pop culture all the time. But where does it come from? ---
**Author:** ![Rube\_E.Tewesday](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f0a364/32.png) [@Rube\_E.Tewesday](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rube_E.Tewesday)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2007, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/report-on-columbus/428876/13 "2007-12-12T17:50:13Z")
[QUOTE=h.sapiens] You know, this report reminded me of something I’ve been curious about for a while. Does anyone know who originated the idea that Columbus set out to prove that the world was round, while the rest of Europe thought he’d “sail off the edge” before he got to the Indies? It seems to have been around forever, and it turns up in pop culture all the time. But where does it come from? [/QUOTE] I’ve often seen it attributed to Washington Irving’s biography of Columbus, as in this [wiki](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flat_Earth) about flat-earthism. ---
**Author:** ![Gfactor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@Gfactor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gfactor)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2007, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/report-on-columbus/428876/14 "2007-12-13T03:22:55Z")
[QUOTE=h.sapiens] Does anyone know who originated the idea that Columbus set out to prove that the world was round, while the rest of Europe thought he’d “sail off the edge” before he got to the Indies? It seems to have been around forever, and it turns up in pop culture all the time. But where does it come from? [/QUOTE] James J. Loewen, _Lies My Teacher Told Me_ (1995) says, “Washington Irving wins credit for popularizing the flat-earth fable in 1828. In his bestselling biography of Columbus, Irving described Columbus’s supposed defense of his round-earth theory before the flat-earth savants at Salamanca University. Irving himself surely knew the story to be fiction. He probably thought it added a nice dramatic flourish and would do no harm.” (p. 46). _And see_, John Noble Wilford, _The Mysterious History of Columbus_ (1991). Barlow, who wrote his _Vision of Columbus_ in 1787, doesn’t mention the flat-earth theory. Instead he describes Columbus as hypothesizing that “a considerable portion of the earth was still undiscovered,” and that “by attending to the spherical figure of the earth, Columbus drew this conclusion, that the Atlantic Ocean must be bounded on the west either by India itself, or by some great continent not far distant from it.”: [The Vision of Columbus: A Poem, in Nine Books - Joel Barlow - Google Books](http://books.google.com/books?id=Mv4SAAAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover&as_brr=3&ei=nKBgR_mNAYvAiwGiqcX6Bg&rview=1#PPA3,M1)