WHO DISCOVERED AMERICA?

 

First, this is a big day for celebrations:

• 
  Columbus Day.
• Still a federal holiday in the USA and many countries of the Americas.
• Italian Christopher Columbus  representing Spain arrived in the Bahamas on October 12, 1492 after a journey of 3 months.  
• This was a surprise, for they were expecting to find a way to cross the Atlantic Ocean to Asia.  
• However, America was named after Italian Amerigo Vespucci (right) on his second journey across the Atlantic in 1501, for Portugal, because he was the first to indicate that he found a New World.

• 
  The other controversy is that many today feel that Columbus was responsible for lands to be taken away from the Indians.  Thus, there seems to be sentiment for this day to be called something like Indigenous Peoples Day.

• 
  The third controversy is that the first European to visit North America was Leif Erickson, around the year 1000, almost 500 years before Columbus.  Congress in 1969 did designate October 9 as Leif Erickson Day, but efforts to make this a national holiday failed.

• 
  There is a legend that Irish Monk Saint Brendan in the 6th century sailed to North America on a currack, a wood-framed boat covered with animal skin.  In 1976, writer Tim Severing did just that, building such a craft, and landed in Canada.  But there is still no evidence that Brendan was the first.
• 

  However, there is more to a Chinese fleet under Admiral Zheng He coming to North America in 1421.  I've covered his exploits several times.  Here is one posting of about a dozen years ago.  And another one from last year.  Note how much larger He's Treasure ship was compared to that of Columbus.
• Watch this fascinating video of who discovered America.

• 
  I should add that today is also International Beer and Pizza Day.
• Some say the beer part goes back to the Ancient Egyptians, for it was the favorite drink of the time, even fed to slaves, so they could stay healthy.
• The pizza part heralds to 997 AD in Gaeta, Italy.  Mind you, tomatoes came to Europe from the New World, so the original pizza did not have tomato sauce.
• So International Beer and Pizza Day came into existence in 2016, the brainchild of Nick Saulino.
• 
  
• 
  Finally, today is National Moldy Cheese Day.
• Yes, you can also say October 9 is Mouldy Cheese day.
• You throw most moldy foods away.
• Some best cheeses are so because of the mold.
• You say Blue Cheese, but others also indicate Gorgonzola, Camembert, Brie and Stilton.
• I must say that moldy cheeses are my favorite.  So much so that I will change my lunch today and have this.
• Also a favorite of Charlemagne, Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, Julia Child and Cardi B.

Super Typhoon Koinu has now weakened into a tropical depression.  However, Hurricane Lidia will tomorrow will strengthen into a Category 2 storm and make landfall well north of Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.

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