Columbus Day, 2023

Columbus’ discovery of the Americas was an event of the highest importance in the history of the world. Through Columbus the Europeans discovered the Americas; native Americans discovered the Europeans; and through the Europeans the rest of the world, too. Far-flung regions of the world began to come into direct contact with each other. Within one lifetime after 1492, Europeans were in Japan and the rest of the Orient, the Columbian Trade brought Africa into contact with the Americas and Europe, and Russia conquered Siberia. Just after Columbus we can see world history begin to be a unified whole.

We deplore European imperialism. While the great European Empires (the Spanish, the Portuguese, the French, and the British) was the driving force behind bringing the regions of the world into contact with one another, this holiday does not celebrate that. What was good about Columbus was the drive to explore the world and from that to expand human knowledge. And from that, to expand the possibilities of human endeavor.

So, EXPLORATION. That is what this holiday is about.

Today we consider the earliest deep sea explorations.