Woops!
Should have sent post #2 to everyone—not just me!
I think I was too busy trying to get my Columbus post to size right. Hard to find good pictures of Columbus’s mighty effort, ships, etc, due to Leftist hatred of him.
Right. Columbus is cancelled. The city hall had a nice big statue of the mariner but in the craze that occurred the Demcrat Mayor was quick to pull it down. They even toyed with the idea of changing the name of Ohio’s capital city. When all the businesses clamored about changing their names and stationary, airport, maps, everything! The idea got tamped down, but it may re-surge. Poor Chris - A most vilified Italian.
Your Columbus post ... sailing the ocean, etc. ..... if you like history, there is a podcast called “The Pirate History Podcast”. It is loaded with history - I don’t know how the guy does all the research he does. Lots of sailing, lots of ocean. The pirates are not the swashbuckling “Disney” type pirates. I’m on episode 115 and we haven’t gotten to the ones most people would mention if you asked them to name a few pirates: Blackbeard, Bonney, the Atlantic coast pirates, etc.
There are lots of grand adventures on the seas ... Mediterranean, Caribbean, Pacific, & Atlantic. Miraculous escapes, tales of survival, incredible good luck & bad, great tacticians - military & otherwise. There are ‘privateers’ (approved pirating), buccaneers, and then actual pirates ... thin line between all of them. You could go out legally to privateer (king’s permission) and while you’re at sea, a treaty is signed & you are now illegally raiding Spanish treasure ships ... communication was slow in those days! It’s all just fascinating. I always loved the history teachers who went beyond the usual history books - this podcast is beyond the history books & into journals, letters, lesser known sources, etc.
Anyway, I am thoroughly enjoying The Pirate History Podcast. It doesn’t hurt that Matt has a wonderful voice & a good sense of humor - he does a fantastic job.