Map important travels and geographical discoveries. Travels of the era of great geographical discoveries. Why travel if it's good at home?

Routes of the most important travels GREAT GEOGRAPHICAL DISCOVERIES, a conventional term adopted mainly in historical literature, denoting the largest geographical discoveries of European travelers in the 15th to mid-17th centuries. In foreign literature, the period of the Great Geographical Discoveries is usually limited to the mid-15th to mid-16th centuries. Great geographical discoveries




The caravel is a symbol of the Great Geographical Discoveries. Great geographical discoveries became possible thanks to the successes of European science and technology. By the 15th century, sailing ships (caravels) that were reliable enough for ocean navigation were created, Great geographical discoveries






Walrus Tusk New trade routes also forced the search for Turkish conquests, which blocked traditional merchant ties with the East through the Mediterranean Sea. In overseas lands, Europeans hoped to find wealth: precious stones and metals, exotic goods and spices, ivory and walrus tusks. Great geographical discoveries


Coat of arms of Portugal The Portuguese were the first to launch systematic expeditions in the Atlantic Ocean. Portugal's activity at sea was predetermined by its geographical location in the far west of Europe and the historical conditions that developed after the end of the Portuguese Reconquista. Great geographical discoveries




Henry (Enrique) the Navigator Traditionally, Portugal's successes at sea are associated with the name of Prince Henry the Navigator (). He was not only an organizer of sea expeditions, but also seriously engaged in the development of open lands.


Azores In 1416, the Portuguese sailor G. Velho, following south along Africa, discovered Canary Islands, in 1419, the Portuguese nobles Zarco and Vas Teixeira discovered the islands of Madeira and Porto Santo, in 1431 V. Cabral the Azores. Great geographical discoveries


Diogo Can in the Congo During the 15th century, Portuguese caravels explored the sea route along west coast Africa, reaching increasingly southern latitudes. In the years Diogo Can (Cao) crossed the equator, opened the mouth of the Congo River and walked along the coast of Africa to Cape Cross. Kahn discovered the Namibian deserts, thereby refuting the legend that had existed since the time of Ptolemy about the impassability of the tropics. Great geographical discoveries






CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS, portrait by an unknown artist of the 16th century. In 1492, after the capture of Granada and the completion of the reconquista, the Spanish King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella accepted the project of the Genoese navigator Christopher Columbus () to reach the shores of India, sailing to the west.


Coin 1 colon with the profile of Columbus The Columbus project had many opponents, but it received the support of scientists from the University of Salamansa, the most famous in Spain, and, no less significantly, among business people Seville.








Christopher Columbus (g.g.) From the Canary Islands, Columbus headed west. On October 12, 1492, after a month of sailing in the open ocean, the fleet approached a small island from the group of Bahamas, then named San Salvador.










Second Expedition Subsequently, Columbus made three more voyages to America in 2010, during which part of the Lesser Antilles, Puerto Rico, Jamaica, Trinidad, etc. were discovered; part was examined Atlantic coast Central and South America.








Columbus with an anchor and his noble coat of arms For his great discoveries, Columbus was granted a noble coat of arms by the Spanish monarch, on which “the castle of Castile and the lion of Leon were adjacent to images of the islands he discovered, as well as anchors symbols of the admiral’s title.” Columbus's personal coat of arms















Vasco da Gama Returning to Portugal in September 1499, Vasco da Gama was greeted with great honor, received a large monetary reward and the title "Admiral of the Indian Ocean", as well as the title of Don and the cities of Sines and Vila Nova de Milfontes as his fief. In 1519 he received the title of Count of Vidigueira.


PORTRAIT OF VASCO DA GAMA Later he was in India twice more. Died in Cochin (India) on December 24. The ashes were transported to Portugal and buried in the small church of Quinta do Carmo in Alentejo. In 1880, the ashes were transferred to the Jeronimite Monastery in Lisbon.


John Cabot In Spain and Portugal, marine expeditions were equipped every year, which made overseas voyages and discovered new lands. Others also became interested in overseas countries European states. Over the years, England equipped expeditions led by the Italian navigator John Cabot, who reached the shores of North America near the island of Newfoundland. Great geographical discoveries


Pedro Alvares Cabral In 1500, the Portuguese squadron under the command of Pedro Cabral, heading to India, was greatly diverted by the equatorial current and reached Brazil, which Cabral mistook for an island. Then he continued his voyage, circumnavigated Africa and proceeded through the Mozambique Channel to India. Like previous travelers, Cabral considered the land he discovered in the west to be part of Asia. Great geographical discoveries


Alonso de Ojeda In an 18th-century engraving. Important To understand the essence of the discoveries of Christopher Columbus, the voyages of the navigator Amerigo Vespucci were necessary. Over the years, he made four trips to the shores of America, first as part of a Spanish expedition led by Alonso Ojeda, and then under the Portuguese flag. Great geographical discoveries


Amerigo Vespucci Having compared the data received, and Spanish and Portuguese navigators discovered the entire northern coast of South America and its eastern coast up to 25° south latitude, Vespucci came to the conclusion that the discovered lands were not Asia, but a new continent, and proposed calling it the “New World.” "








John Cabot's explorations in North America were continued by his son Sebastian Cabot. During his years leading English expeditions, he tried to find the so-called Northwest Passage to India and managed to reach Hudson Bay. Having failed to find a short route to India, England showed little interest in the open lands overseas. Hudson Bay Great geographical discoveries






The difference between America and Asia was finally confirmed by Ferdinand Magellan, who carried out the first circumnavigation(), which became practical evidence of the sphericity of the Earth. Fernand Magellan


A ship from Magellan's fleet. Image from 1523 An expedition led by Magellan explored the south eastern part South America, discovered the strait between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans (the Strait of Magellan) and sailed through the South Pacific. Great geographical discoveries










Cordoba, Calahorra Tower In the years, the Spanish conquistadors J. Ponce de Leon, F. Cordova, J. Grijalva discovered the entire eastern coast of the South and Central America, Gulf Coast, Florida Peninsula. Great geographical discoveries




Map of the hike. Expedition to Mexico Great geographical discoveries


Map of California in the 17th century. The territory is depicted as an island. The search for gold, the mythical country of Eldorado, led the conquistadors far into the interior of the American continent. In the years, Sebastian Cabot, who switched to Spanish service, explored the lower reaches of the Parana River and discovered the lower reaches of the Paraguay River.




Francisco Orellana sailed the Amazon from the Andes to the mouth in 1542. By 1552, the Spaniards had explored the entire Pacific coast of South America and discovered largest rivers continent (Amazon, Orinoco, Parana, Paraguay), explored the Andes from 10° north latitude to 40° south latitude. Francisco de Orellana, depicted by a modern artist.


HERNANDO DE SOTO In the second quarter of the 16th century, French navigators also achieved significant success. J. Verrazano (1524) and J. Cartier () discovered the eastern coast of North America and the St. Lawrence River. In the years, the Spaniards E. Soto and F. Coronado traveled to the Southern Appalachians and the Southern Rocky Mountains, to the basins of the Colorado and Mississippi rivers.


Russian explorer Semyon Dezhnev, who discovered the strait between the Asian continent and America in 1617 centuries. Russian explorers explored the northern coast of the Ob, Yenisei and Lena and mapped the contours north coast Asia. In 1642, Yakutsk was founded, which became the base for expeditions to the Arctic Ocean. Great geographical discoveries


Russian explorer Semyon Dezhnev, who discovered the strait between the Asian continent and America Great geographical discoveries In 1648, Semyon Ivanovich Dezhnev (ca) left Kolyma and walked around the Chukotka peninsula, proving that the Asian continent is separated from America by a strait. The outlines were refined and plotted on maps northeast coast of Asia (1667, “Drawing of the Siberian Land”).


Cape Dezhnev But Dezhnev's report on the discovery of the strait lay in the Yakut archive for 80 years and was published only in 1758. In the 18th century. The strait discovered by Dezhnev was named after the Danish navigator in the Russian service, Vitus Bering, who in 1728 opened the strait for the second time. In 1898, in memory of Dezhnev, a cape at the northeastern tip of Asia was named after him. Great geographical discoveries




Henry Hudson made four expeditions to North America over the years. He passed through the strait between Labrador and Baffin Island into a vast gulf in the interior of North America. Later, both the strait and the bay were named after Hudson. A river in eastern North America is also named after him, at the mouth of which the city of New York later arose. Hudson's fate ended tragically; in the spring of 1611, the mutinous crew of his ship landed him and his teenage son in a boat in the middle of the ocean, where they went missing. HENRY HUDSON


John Davis spent three voyages in the waters of the North Atlantic, discovered the strait between Greenland and America (Davis Strait), and explored the coast of the Labrador Peninsula. John Davis Great geographical discoveries


Portrait of William Baffin by Hendrik van der Borcht William Baffin sailed in Arctic waters over the years: he made expeditions to the shores of Spitsbergen, explored Hudson Bay and the sea that was later named after him, discovered a number of islands in the Canadian Arctic archipelago, moving along the western coast of Greenland and reached 78° northern latitude. Samuel de Champlain In the first quarter of the 17th century. Europeans begin to explore North America. At first, France achieved the greatest success in this region. The first governor of Canada, Samuel Champlain. explored part of the eastern coast of North America, traveled deep into the continent: he discovered the Northern Appalachians, climbed up the St. Lawrence River to the Great Lakes and reached Lake Huron. By 1648, the French had discovered all five Great Lakes.


At the same time, at the beginning of the 17th century, European sailors penetrated the most remote part of the world from Europe, areas located south of South-East Asia. The Spaniard Luis Torres discovered the southern coast of New Guinea in 1606 and passed through the strait separating Asia and Australia (Torres Strait). Torres Strait Map Great Geographical Discoveries



Abel Janszon Tasman In Dutchman Abel Tasman discovered Tasmania, New Zealand, Fiji, part of the coast of Northern and Western Australia. Tasman identified Australia as a single landmass and named it New Holland. But Holland did not have enough resources to explore the new continent, and a century later it had to be rediscovered. Great geographical discoveries

It is impossible to measure the value of what travel gives to a person. Traveling has great benefits for every person. Let's find out in the article.

What does traveling really do for a person?

People always ask me – why do I travel? Why travel at all? Why do I want to leave home so much? Why spend money on travel when you can buy a car or something equivalent? Do I miss anything or anyone? Do I feel lonely? What does travel give to a person?

There are many reasons to travel - wanderlust, love of culture, the desire to just leave it all behind, the desire to forget, or the need to meet new people. Traveling becomes a way for people to cope with different situations, experience new experiences, and find themselves. This is why people love to travel.

For every person, traveling has a certain charm. St. Augustine is famous for his quote, “The world is a book, and he who does not travel reads but one page.” I keep this quote and another one by Mark Twain about the lack of regret in my head all the time.

In the book of the world, all the pages are different. Everything is new, everything is changing. It doesn’t matter if you’re going to see the pyramids or experience a new culture, it doesn’t matter if you want to escape from something or learn something, whether you’re going for a month or a year, we all travel because we’re looking for change. We are looking for something new, a change in daily routine or impressions of another culture, change - that’s what traveling gives a person.

Why do people travel?

Recently, people have begun to travel more and here's why - in modern world With 9 to 5 jobs, mortgages, loans and constant bills, our days become like an eternal race, almost indistinguishable from each other and very boring. Under the weight of such a life, a person often forgets about what is really important to him and what he would like from life. We become hostages, sandwiched between the journey to work and back, and the need to take the children to the school, that we forget what the sky looks like and how to breathe in general.

When people ask me why I want to travel so much, I talk about how I live at home and can plan my life months in advance. Ask why? Because all days are similar to each other - traffic jams, work, gym, sleep, repeat. While on a journey every moment promises a new beginning. Not a single day is like the previous one. You cannot plan in advance what will happen to you today, because it is simply impossible. No traffic jams, no errands, no business meetings. Just you and your whim. Travel gives freedom. That's why people travel.

Over the past few years, my life has been constantly changing. Places, cultures, cities, countries are all different from each other. Not a single day was similar to the previous one. In fact, every day is so different from the others that sometimes it seems to me that I have already lived 3 lives instead of one, my days are so busy. Your life will seem longer to you - that's why travel is needed.

People may have many reasons to travel, but everyone is looking for some kind of change. We want to see the world, to see something different, something changeable. Travel brings changes to a person's life and adds spice to it. Exciting, completely different and full of adventure - that’s what traveling provides. Your day will not be subject to working hours, only to the dictates of your heart.

In the ocean of freedom, without a compass to show us the direction, without anything that forces us to do anything, we all float forward.

We want something different from our everyday routine, something that challenges us. We always strive for something new, different, different from what we already have (whatever one may say, this is the spice of our life), this is an integral part of any person. No one jumps up in the morning with joy and gratitude that he has to sit in a stuffy office for 8 hours today. No. We're just talking about how we can get out of this. Break through the walls of everyday life and experience something different. This is why you need to travel.

A person is always looking for something new, something previously unseen - the next page in the book of the world, even if it is temporary. This makes travel so interesting, intriguing and desirable for all of us. This calls us to go towards new places and experiences. Allows us to take a break from office routine and touch the mysterious chaos. Shows us new places, people and cultures. Travel always gives us new experiences - not necessarily outside, but inside us.

This is the benefit of travel for humans.

I live my life as a traveler and don’t know what awaits me ahead, but I can only read one sign that says “Changes are ahead” - and I have no choice but to smile. Looking around at other travelers, I see that they are smiling too. We smile all together, knowing that a new experience awaits us just around the corner - an unexpected adventure, a rewarding experience, a daring challenge, a true friend or the love of our life.

Today is my little anniversary - exactly two years of non-stop travel. For this date, I prepared a short article, the main thoughts of which were compiled into a list. A list of wonderful travel moments will be experienced by every person who decides to take this action: to leave everything and everyone behind and go to discover oneself and, as a result, see how the peoples of other countries of the world live and get high from the unreal beauty of the natural wonders around. If every person overcomes internal questions in the style of: “How will I live without my family and friends?”, “What about my work in the office?” (“What about my pension?” a question from the same opera), “How will I save for an apartment/car?” and an endless list of questions, it will open amazing world which is called travel.

Here are my 12 reasons why people simply need to travel!

1. Travel teaches you things you never knew.

First of all, this is geography :) If you had asked me 2 years ago which city is the capital, or, I would have had to shyly go to Google. But now I know even more, due to constant dreams and plans to see this or that country. Secondly, it is the culture and traditions of the peoples of the world. Imagine people who look at life completely differently, who have strange and, at times, terrifying traditions and a completely different religion. All this inspires and awakens your curiosity about everything you see and feel.

Travel is always about exploration!

2. Learn to be tolerant

A useful thing in society. If you are tolerant, it means you are educated and generally a normal person. When going on a trip, expect that people in another country will be different: different in skin color and eye shape, traditions and religion, outlook on life and way of life. Therefore, you must always respect a state of affairs that is different from yours and understand that you are not at home. In another country, you are a guest and must take into account their peculiarities.

Travel is what makes us better!

3. Learn to be independent

When traveling, you never depend on anyone, you completely surrender to yourself and rely only on yourself. Therefore, this is, first of all, self-knowledge and the disclosure of one’s abilities and capabilities.

Traveling is independence!

4. Traveling is fun and always a great adventure.

If you are going abroad not on a hot trip to some all inclusive hotel for a week, and you do everything yourself, including creating an entertainment program, then adventure will definitely find you. It has been tested more than once, especially when you suddenly deviate from the plan of your program, choose a different route from the usual one, or, at worst, decide to go to some crowded cafe on the outskirts of the city. Life just has to provide something like that! Traveling is always fun! Or you bargain at the local market for some little thing and then, having snatched this very little thing for mere pennies, you feel like a hero and smile from ear to ear all day. Or you went to a restaurant to try khinkali, and there was a Georgian ensemble singing at the top of their lungs - and your mood improved! Or there are boys playing football in the yard, and as soon as they see you, they run up to say hello and shake hands. Or when you meet many different pets on your way in the mountains, you immediately run to cuddle and pet them (not to mention the million photos on your phone).

Traveling is fun!

5. Good language practice

In my case, English. Every person should know at least basic things English language so that you can explain yourself at least at the level of a first-grader. But since language learning at home proceeds in a passive form, when traveling you can’t go anywhere without active practice. If you communicate every day among native speakers or at least those who are the same as you, but when communicating in your native languages ​​you do not understand each other, then the awkwardness and embarrassment gradually goes away, the level of the language improves and there are fewer misunderstandings with other people. Better than sitting at home and knowing the language only in theory.

6. See what you can or cannot live without

One of the meanings of life is to find for yourself what only you need and determine your comfort zone. Staying far beyond the borders of your country, you begin to understand the true value of things, for example, you rethink communication with family and friends, the need for universal approval. And you completely forget about everyday things, such as the presence of a microwave, TV, hot water.

Travel is a choice!

7. Find out your abilities outside of your comfort zone

When you go far from home, you realize that your soft bed with a pillow will no longer please you, the always clean bathroom will be replaced by one that has already passed through hundreds of people, and in the kitchen everything will not be the way you want it. But it’s always nice to expand your comfort zone, to understand that you could survive anywhere and with minimal waste of nerve cells.

8. Understand what you would like from life and find inspiration

If you feel like life has lost its meaning and you don’t have the strength to do anything, plan a trip! Even for a week. This will give you time to get distracted by thinking, relax and be inspired for new achievements and projects.

Travel is inspiration!

9. Make new acquaintances

Probably the most pleasant thing about traveling is meeting new people and interesting personalities. Through meeting local people you can learn more about the country, city, traditions and religion. Since they are local, neither Wikipedia nor any other blog will tell you about this. They will show you places where you can dine without compromising your health, and show you where to buy fruits/vegetables to make them tastier and cheaper! They will show you how they spend their leisure time and how they have fun and will advise you better than any guide on what to see in the city.

10. Try cuisine from different countries of the world

It is unlikely that you will be able to try real Adjarian khachapuri, Georgian khinkali, and Dal Bat rice, Thai Tom Yum soup and Vietnamese spring rolls at home. People even came up with a new branch in travel - gastronomic tours. Simply put, when you go abroad just to eat and get drunk :)

Travel is always delicious!

11. The opportunity to help people

Volunteering is no longer such a new direction in tourism. People go to poor countries to help both physically and financially. It’s not for me to tell you that a person gets extraordinary satisfaction from helping others. For example, in , after the largest earthquake in history in 2015, a lot of buildings, both ordinary residential buildings and cultural heritage sites, were destroyed. Without tourism and volunteers, the city would take a very long time to recover. The owner of the house in Nepal, from whom we rented an apartment, is engaged in a large project to rebuild from scratch the only school high in the mountains, which was completely destroyed by an earthquake. He is actively looking for sponsors and collecting cash for the restoration of Yangrima School. To make construction go faster, you can help using this link.

12. Create new pleasant memories that you will never forget

And finally, these are memories. Probably the most expensive thing we can have. We ourselves are the creators of moments: both pleasant and not so pleasant. But still, later it will be cool to remember and in some places understand how you have changed. The main thing is not to forget to live here and now, enjoy life and not look for any reasons to travel. Just open


The era of great geographical discoveries is usually called the period from the end of the 15th to the half of the 17th century. This period is a little over one and a half hundred years - a very short period in the history of mankind. But he radically changed people’s understanding of the Earth, replacing religious fictions propagated by the church with true knowledge based on irrefutable facts.

What happened during the era of great geographical discoveries?

Already in the XIII - XIV centuries. there was brisk trade in the coastal towns Mediterranean Sea- Florence, Venice, Palermo and Naples, Genoa and Marseille. Goods arrived here from Central Europe, and then they were exported to the south - to Africa, to the east - to Asia Minor, to the trading cities of the Black Sea.

In Europe, goods from the East were very highly valued: cinnamon, pepper, ginger, nutmeg, fragrant oils, weapons, pearls, fabrics, ivory, etc. They were brought from India, China, and the islands of the Malay Archipelago. Arab merchants brought them to the Mediterranean Sea.

In the 13th century. On the way to the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf, the Mamluk state arose, and in the 14th century. in Asia Minor - the Ottoman Empire. These states, like a wall, separated the cities of the Mediterranean from the markets in the East. They imposed heavy taxes on land caravans for transporting goods, and often simply robbed them. The influx of goods from the East became less and less. Their prices in Western Europe have increased hundreds of times.

Trade routes along the southern Russian steppes, bypassing the Caspian Sea, through Central and Central Asia took a lot of time, were expensive and were far from safe. A convenient sea route from Europe to the countries of the East was needed. The search for profitable sea routes to the East began in the 15th century. two coastal states of the Iberian Peninsula: Portugal and Spain.

In the 15th century The peoples of these countries, after long wars, freed themselves from the yoke of the Arabs. Continuing the war with the Arabs in North Africa, the Portuguese gradually moved along its western coast further and further south.

Along the way, the sailors discovered the Canary Islands, Cape Verde and Madeira Island. These lands became their base of support on long voyages. In 1445, the Portuguese reached the westernmost point of Africa - Cape Verde, and opened the mouths of the pp. Senegal and Gambia. No European had ever been here before.

As they moved south, more and more pictures of the African coast and its tropical nature opened up before the sailors. In convenient places, the Portuguese landed on the shore and put up special signs (“padrans”), indicating that the land was now the possession of Portugal. The Portuguese captured local black residents and then sold them in the markets of Portugal as slaves.

Many at that time had a question: was Ptolemy’s world map correct? On this map, Africa extended to the South Pole, separating the Atlantic Ocean from the Indian Ocean. But Portuguese navigators established: the further south you go, the more the coast of Africa deviates to the east. Maybe the mainland ends somewhere and is washed by the sea from the south? Then it would be possible to go around the land, get into the Indian Ocean, and along it go by ship to India and China and from there bring spices and other valuable goods to Europe by sea! The thought was breathtaking.

This exciting mystery was solved by the Portuguese traveler Bartolomeu Dias. Leaving Lisbon in 1487 on three ships, he sailed to the southern tip in 1488

Africa and even circumnavigated it, despite a severe storm. Dias called the southernmost protrusion of Africa the Cape of Storms. Beyond this cape, his ships entered the waters of the Indian Ocean. But Bartolomeu Dias had to end his journey here: the team, exhausted by storms, demanded to return to their homeland. After the report of Bartolomeu Dias on the results of the voyage, the Portuguese government ordered the name of the southern cape of Africa not as the Cape of Storms, but Good Hope-hopes to reach India and other countries of the East by sea.

This hope soon came true. Ten years later, a special expedition on four ships under the command of Vasco da Gama set out to find a route around Africa to India. On the eastern shores of Africa, sailors discovered Arab trade and military settlements. Then the expedition arrived in India and, having visited the city of Calicut, returned to Portugal with a cargo of spices in July 1499. The voyage lasted two years and two months.

As a result of the voyages of Bartolomeu Dias and Vasco da Gama, the world map changed greatly. The Atlantic and Indian oceans were connected; The contours of Africa were clarified, and the island of Madagascar was mapped. It was found that the coasts of Africa are inhabited along their entire length. Instead of dangerous land roads, a cheap and relatively safe sea route to the East was opened. Expeditions set off from Portugal along a new route to India. As a result of these expeditions, India becomes a colony of Portugal. Having settled here, the Portuguese invaders carried out military campaigns in Indonesia, Indochina, all the way to New Guinea and Japan.

Discovery of America and " South Sea»

The discovery of a sea route to India by Portugal also caused other states to seek a sea route to the countries of the East. Spain did not want to put up with the strengthening of its neighbor: - Portugal. The path to the shores of Africa was blocked by the Portuguese fleet, which destroyed any foreign ship that appeared off the western coast of Africa. Trade with the East along land caravan routes was completely inaccessible for Spain, since they passed through the whole of Europe. The Spanish government began to look for ways to penetrate the countries of the East. At this time, a sailor arrived in Spain. He knew how to draw maps, drive ships, and knew four languages. He was originally from Italy and came to Spain from Portugal. His name was Cristobal Colon (Christopher Columbus). Having found a familiar monk in a monastery near the city of Palos, Columbus told him that he had decided to sail to Asia by a new sea route - along the Atlantic Ocean.

He managed to convince some people close to the royal court of this. He was admitted to Queen Isabella, who, after his report, appointed a “scientific council” to discuss the project. The council consisted of a majority of clergy. Columbus ardently defended his project. He referred to the evidence of ancient scientists about the sphericity of the Earth, to a copy of the map of the famous Italian astronomer Toscanelli, which depicted many islands in the Atlantic Ocean, and behind them - eastern shores Asia. He convinced the learned monks that the legends spoke of a land beyond the ocean, from the shores of which sea currents sometimes bring tree trunks with traces of their processing by human hands.

None of Columbus's arguments had any effect on the monks. Having achieved nothing, Columbus wanted to leave Spain. But finally, the rulers of Spain decided to conclude an agreement with him, according to which, if successful, he would receive the title of admiral and viceroy of the lands he discovered, as well as a significant part of the profits from trade with the countries where he was able to visit.

On August 3, 1492, three ships set sail from the port of Paloe: “Santa Maria”, “Pinta”, “Nina” with 90 participants. The ships' crews consisted mainly of convicted criminals. After the repair of the ship "Pinta" near the Canary Islands, tedious days dragged on. 33 days had passed since the expedition left the Canary Islands, and still no land was visible.

The rowdy crew began to grumble. To calm her down, Columbus wrote down the distances traveled in the ship's log, deliberately understating them. While observing the compass needle, he one day noticed that it was behaving unusually, deviating from the normal direction towards the North Star. This plunged the most seasoned admiral into confusion. He did not know and could not assume that there were areas of magnetic anomalies; they were not yet known then.

Soon signs of the proximity of land appeared: the color of the water changed, flocks of birds appeared. And from the observation barrel on the mast, the lookout announced: “Earth!” But the sailors were in for a bitter disappointment - it was not land, but a mass of long algae floating on the surface. The ships entered the Sargasso Sea. Hopes dissipated like a mirage. Soon after this sea, signs of land appeared. On October 12, we actually saw a dark strip of land on the horizon.

It was a small island with lush tropical vegetation. Stately tall people with dark skin lived here. The natives called their island Guanahani. Columbus named it San Salvador and declared it a possession of Spain. This name stuck with one of the Bahamas. Columbus was confident that he had reached Asia. Having visited other islands, he asked local residents everywhere whether this was Asia.

But I didn’t hear anything consonant with this word. The voyage participants were especially interested in the gold jewelry of local residents. There were few of them, and the inhabitants valued jewelry no more than beautiful shells. Columbus and his companions noticed that the islanders were chewing or burning some kind of dry grass in their teeth. This was tobacco first seen by Europeans.

Columbus left some people on the island of Hispaniola, led by his brother, and sailed to Spain. To prove that he had discovered the route to Asia, Columbus took with him several Indians, feathers of unprecedented birds, some plants, including maize, potatoes and tobacco, as well as gold taken from the inhabitants of the islands. On March 15, 1493, in Palos he was greeted in triumph as a hero.

This was the first visit by Europeans to the islands of Central America and the beginning of the further discovery of unknown lands, their conquest and colonization. For the first time, the width of the Atlantic Ocean became reliably known; the existence of a current from east to west was established, the Sargasso Sea was discovered, and the incomprehensible behavior of the magnetic needle was noted for the first time.

The return of Columbus caused an unprecedented “fever” in Spain. Thousands of people were eager to go with him to “Asia” in the hope of easy prey. Having immediately equipped a new expedition, Columbus set off from Cadiz on a second voyage, which lasted from 1493 to 1496. Many new lands were discovered in the Small Ridge Antilles(Dominica, Guadeloupe, Antigua), the islands of Puerto Rico, Jamaica, the southern coasts of Cuba and Hispaniola were examined. But this time Columbus did not reach the mainland. The ships returned to Spain with rich booty.

Columbus's third voyage took place in 1498-1500. on six ships. He sailed from the city of San Lucar. A heavy blow awaited Columbus on the island of Hispaniola. The treacherous rulers of Spain, fearing that Columbus might become the ruler of the lands he had discovered, sent a ship after him with the order to arrest him. Columbus was shackled and taken to Spain. On the false accusation of concealing royal income, he was deprived of all titles and privileges written in the contract. Columbus spent almost two years trying to prove his innocence. In 1502, he again set out on his last voyage to the west. This time Columbus visited many of the islands he discovered, crossing from south coast Cuba Caribbean Sea and reached the northern coast of South America.

Columbus returned from his fourth voyage in 1504. His glory faded. The Spanish government did not intend to fulfill the agreement with him. In 1506, Columbus died almost forgotten in one of the small monasteries. Researchers of the life and work of Columbus claim that until the end of his life he was convinced that he had discovered the route to Asia.

IN discovered by Columbus a stream of those hungry for profit poured out of the land from Spain. It especially intensified in the first decades of the 16th century. In just twenty years, Spanish ships visited almost all the Bahamas, Greater and Lesser Antilles, crossed the Caribbean Sea, passed along south coast North America from Florida to Yucatan, explored the eastern shores of the isthmus between the American continents, and became familiar with the northern coast of South America from the mouth of the Orinoco to the Gulf of Darien. Many Spanish settlements arose on the islands and coasts of Central America. At the same time, the colonialists not only took away land and gold from the indigenous inhabitants of “Western India,” as these lands were called (hence the name of the inhabitants themselves - “Indians”), but also brutally dealt with them, turning them into slaves.

At the very beginning of the 16th century, at the turn of two centuries, a native of Italy, merchant Amerigo Vespucci, took part in one of the voyages to the shores of the West Indies. Having visited the coast of South America, he came to the conclusion that the land that Columbus reached was not Asia at all, that it was an unknown vast land, the New World. He reported his guess in two letters to Italy. Word of this spread quickly. In 1506 in France there was

A geographical atlas with a map of the northern part of South America was published. Map author Waldseemüller called this part of the New World the land of Amerigo. Cartographers of subsequent years extended this name to Central and then North America. Thus, the name Amerigo Vespucci was undeservedly assigned to an entire part of the world and immortalized by cartographers. Meeting stubborn resistance from the indigenous population, the Spaniards initially did not dare to move deeper into the mainland. In one of the colonies (Santa Maria) on the shores of the Gulf of Darien, a certain Balboa, Vasco Nunez, who fled here from Spain from debts, ended up. Fear of creditors pushed him to search for wealth. He heard from the Indians that there was a lot of gold behind the mountains in the west, on the shores of the “big water”. Gathering a gang of lovers of easy money, Balboa in 1513 climbed the mountains, crossed to the western slope and really saw the “big water”. He called it the “South Sea” and declared it the possession of Spain. It was the Panama Bay of the Pacific Ocean. Without thinking at all about geographical discoveries, but thinking only about gold, Balboa was the first European to reach the shores of the Pacific Ocean, making one of the great discoveries.

Along the sea routes laid by Columbus across the ocean, and by Balboa through the Isthmus of Panama to the “South Sea,” the Spanish conquerors came to America and captured not only the islands, but also the isthmus between the two continents, and from there they rushed to the continent. During 1519-1535 gangs of invaders under the command of the cruel and treacherous Cortes plundered from Honduras to Mexico and California. They killed many thousands of Indians and destroyed the ancient Aztec culture. For ten years (1524-1534), Pizarro’s troops attacked the peaceful Indians of Peru in South America. They destroyed the capital of the state - the city of Cusco and destroyed the high culture of the Incas. In the 30s, Almagro walked to the high-altitude Lake Titicaca, crossed the Cordillera, approached the sources of the Rio Salado, and from here to the shores of the Pacific Ocean. Valdivia spent thirteen years (1540-1553) pursuing and enslaving the Indians along the coast from Cuzco to the 40th parallel, where the city of Valdivia was founded. By the end of the 16th century. The Spaniards paved a land road from the mouth of La Plata to the Pacific Ocean. Spain turned out to be the owner not only of the islands of Central America, but also of vast spaces on the mainland from California to Tierra del Fuego.

All those who walked from Spain along the paths of Columbus are sometimes called in the literature “minor discoverers.” In reality, these were conquerors (“conquistadors”) - predatory, greedy seekers of easy money who brutally treated the natives.

First circumnavigation of the world

The idea of ​​a spherical Earth is becoming increasingly popular after the discoveries of Columbus in the New World, the voyage of Amerigo Vespucci to South America, after Balboa reached the “South Sea”. They did not yet know how far the “South Sea” stretches to the west of the New World. An assumption arose that, like Africa, South America is washed by sea waters and, by going around it from the south, one can go out into the “South Sea”, and then to the shores of real Asia and East India. This idea was persistently nurtured by the Portuguese Fernando Magellan. He took part in military campaigns in India and Africa. Offended by the Portuguese authorities when dividing up the spoils after a military campaign in Africa, Magellan went to serve in Spain and proposed his project to the Spanish king: to get to the spice islands, bypassing South America. Five ships were equipped for Magellan's voyage.

On September 20, 1519, his flotilla left the mouth of the Guadalquivir with a crew of 265 people. Having crossed the Atlantic, Magellan headed along the coast of South America in search of a strait into the “South Sea”. He had to spend the winter in St. Julian Bay. Difficult conditions wintering undermined the faith in success of some of Magellan's satellites. A riot broke out, which was brutally suppressed (two were executed, two were put ashore).

In 1520, one of Magellan's ships crashed on the rocks. The remaining four ships reached a narrow, winding strait with many islands and wandered in the passages between the islands for more than a month. Then another ship disappeared: the mutinous crew fled and returned to Spain. Using three ships, Magellan made his way to the South Sea.

The transition through the “South Sea” to the west lasted almost four months. It was terribly heavy. There were no products except spoiled crackers; fresh water“rotted” and turned into a yellow, disgusting-smelling liquid. Sailors ate sawdust and soaked in sea ​​water dry cowhide. They even ate rats. Almost everyone was struck by scurvy, which killed 19 people. On a route with a length of 17 thousand. km the sailors encountered only two uninhabited islands from the Mariana group. Only on March 6, 1521 did they approach three inhabited islands, called “Thiefs”: their inhabitants had no idea about property and, sailing to Magellan’s ships, dragged everything that came to hand.

Soon Magellan's ships approached the group large islands, which were called the Lazarus Islands (now the Philippine Islands). Here the population spoke Malay. Magellan realized that, having walked around the Earth, he came to the Old World, to the islands of Indonesia. Having intervened in an intertribal war, F. Magellan died in battle on April 27, 1521. By the time he sailed to Spain, only 115 people remained on the three ships. There were many sick people among them. One ship had to be burned. Of the two remaining ships, one required repairs. The island of Timor had

It was decided that after repairs the ship would head to America. This ship wandered in the waters of the “South Sea” and, having lost half of its crew from scurvy, returned to the Moluccas, where it was captured by the Portuguese.

Only one ship, the Victoria, under the command of El Cano, sailed from the island of Timor to the west, crossed the Indian Ocean and, rounding

Africa, on September 6, 1522 he returned to Spain. On this one ship they brought so many spices that the money received from their sale covered all the costs of the expedition and brought great profit.

Completion of the discovery of a new world

The discovery of the New World and the beginning of its conquest aroused interest in America not only in Spain. Its rival Portugal looked with envy at the Spanish conquests and feared the rapid growth of the power of its neighbor. Already at the beginning of the 16th century. Portuguese

they equip one expedition after another to South America, explore its eastern shores and gradually capture the entire Brazilian coast from the mouth of the Amazon almost to the mouth of La Plata. North America remained less known. In 1497, an English ship under the command of John Cabot, an Italian by birth, arrived at the island of Newfoundland in search of a sea route to China. Then the French pirates Verazzano (1524) and Cartier (1535) familiarized themselves with the coast. They opened the mouth of the river. Hudson and the mouth of the river. St. Lawrence. The French declared part of the coast of Canada 1 their possession.

The search for sea routes to China and India in the north continued in the 16th and 17th centuries. How far does North America extend and is it possible to get around it from the north? Is it possible to reach the countries of the East via the North-Western Sea Route? This was also of interest to many.

The British set off in search of this path... In 1576-1578. For this purpose, naval officer Martin Frobisher sailed three times. He visited the coast of Greenland and began the study of the islands and straits of the Canadian archipelago. Several islands and straits were discovered here by John Davis, who also sailed three times in search of a strait to Cathay (China) in 1585-1587. Having suffered considerable casualties from shipwrecks and the harsh elements of the Arctic, these six expeditions did not find their way to Asia. After these expeditions, maps began to depict more accurately east coasts North America.

The Anglo-Spanish War interrupted expeditions to the Arctic for some time. At the beginning of the 17th century. The British resumed their search for a sea route to the East. Henry Hudson undertook four voyages for this purpose. He tried to break through the ice through the North Pole, bypass New Earth, find a passage around North America. The fourth attempt ended tragically for him: having penetrated into an unknown vast bay, he spent the winter on the shore, and in 1611 he went out in search again, but to no avail. The rebellious crew put their captain (with his son and 7 companions) into a boat and left him in the ice to certain death.

1 The word “Canada” was used by the indigenous people to call their settlements.

Subsequently, until the 30s of the 17th century. brave sailors T. Button, R. Bylot, V. Baffin, T. James, L. Fox persistently, but unsuccessfully, searched for a strait into the Pacific Ocean. These expeditions were equipped by the British trading companies. In the era of great geographical discoveries, these sailors left a noticeable mark: they discovered the entire northeastern coast of North America. Look at the map - islands, bays, and straits are named after these sailors.

By the half of the 17th century. the outlines of the New World were defined all the way from Tierra del Fuego to California in the west and to Baffin Island on the Atlantic coast. The outskirts of America along this entire length became the scene of struggle for colonial possessions between Spain, Portugal, France, England and Holland. These states siphoned enormous wealth from the colonies and turned the indigenous people of America into slaves. Millions of Indians were destroyed over the course of about one to one and a half centuries.

The western outskirts of North America from California to Alaska and the northern edges from Alaska to Greenland remained completely unknown for another century. Their discoverers were Russians in the 18th century.

Northeast Sea Route

Almost simultaneously with the question of the North-West Sea Route from Europe to China and India, a second one arose: how far to the north does Asia extend and is it possible to go along its shores from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean and find the North-East Sea Route?

Northern Shores of Eastern Europe from Scandinavia to Novaya Zemlya in the 15th and 16th centuries. were already quite well known to the Russian Pomors, immigrants from Novgorod, and then from Muscovy, who populated the coast White Sea and the Kola Peninsula at least from the 12th century. On their “boats” and “kochs” they fearlessly plied the waters of the White and Barents Seas, often going to catch sea animals and fish far into the unknown expanses of the Arctic. In the 12th century. they knew the waters of the “Icy Sea” to Grumant, i.e. Spitsbergen, in one direction, to Novaya Zemlya in the other, and to the north - to those places where they were retreating sea ​​ice in the summer, almost to the 80th parallel. It is possible that during years of strong ice melting they penetrated into the Kara Sea.

In the second half of the 15th century. The British and Dutch repeatedly tried to go to the East via the North-Eastern Sea Route. In England, the “Society of Entrepreneurs was created for the discovery of countries, lands, islands, states and possessions, unknown and even hitherto not visited by the (northern) sea route.” Chancellor and Willoughby (1553-1554), Stephen Barrow (1556), Peth and Jackman (1580) sailed at the expense of this society, but their ships reached only the Murmansk coast or Novaya Zemlya, at best the Kara Sea,

The Dutchman Billem Barents (1594-1596) went to the East three times with the goal of “opening a convenient sea route to the kingdoms of China and Sin, passing north of Norway, Muscovy and Tartary.” Barents' ships tried to break through to the east and south and north of Novaya Zemlya, but they failed to get into the Kara Sea all three times. On his third voyage, Barents went around Cape Zhelaniya, but was forced to spend the winter in Icy Harbor. In the spring of 1597, returning to the mainland on two boats, Barents died. During voyages in the Arctic, Russian Pomors provided considerable assistance to the British and Dutch, sometimes saving sailors from imminent death. At the end of the 16th century. The Russians already regularly went to the mouth of the Ob, and perhaps the Yenisei.

Soon after Ermak's campaign (1581 - 1583), the Berezovsky town and Obdorsk (now Salekhard) were built in the lower reaches of the Ob, and seven years later on the river. Taz - Mangazeya fort. For a long time they served as ports for sending furs by sea to Arkhangelsk, and from there to Moscow. At the beginning of the 17th century. Russian sailors often reached the mouth of the Yenisei and the river. Pyasiny. Meanwhile, Russian explorers moved east both overland and along the rivers of the Trans-Urals. They walked all of Western Siberia to the Yenisei.

In 1622-1623 from the Yenisei went up the river. In the Lower Tunguska, the detachment of the explorer Penda crossed the watershed and reached the river. Lena. In 1632, the Yenisei centurion Pyotr Beketov founded Yakutsk, and 10 years later, detachments of Cossacks descended to the mouth of the Lena; from here Rebrov traveled by sea west to the river. Olenek, and Perfiryev - east to the river. Yana. Soon the explorers' camps began to reach the river. Anabar, and to the east - to Indigirka. “Servant man Mikhail Stadukhin and his comrades” walked to the mouth of the Kolyma and in 1644 founded the Nizhne-Kolyma fort. The most difficult section of the Northern Sea Route, bypassing the Taimyr Peninsula, was passed by an unknown sea expedition around 1620. The remains of the winter quarters of this expedition were found by polar explorers in 1940 on Faddeevsky Island and on the mainland in Simsa Bay. There were the ruins of a hut, the skeleton of a ship, dishes (copper cauldrons), marine instruments (matochka, i.e. compass), knives, and many coins from the early 17th century. and even scraps of a half-decayed “charter”. Who exactly, where and for what purpose went by sea to the east has not yet been solved.

The discovery of the last section of the Northeast Passage to the Pacific Ocean is associated with the names of Semyon Dezhnev and Fedot Popov. Dezhnev was a “service man.” He wandered around Siberia for about 20 years, mostly as an overseer of the collection of yasak for the treasury, more than once participated in battles with the Chukchi, was wounded by their arrows, more than once wintered in difficult conditions, suffered poverty and hunger.

Fedot Popov served as a clerk for the Moscow merchant Usov and took care of his interests in Siberia. With his funds, in 1647, he equipped four Kochas for a voyage east of Kolyma. Semyon Dezhnev also took part in this campaign. The swim was unsuccessful: impassable ice blocked the way. The following year (1648) seven camps were equipped with a crew of 90 people. Soon the two Kochas were

broken by ice during a storm. People walked ashore on the ice, but everyone died from hunger and in skirmishes with the Koryaks. Another storm knocked out two more kochas, and they went missing. It is possible that they were carried to the shores of America. When the remaining three kochas reached the cape of the “Big Stone Nose,” another of them crashed on the rocks. People barely escaped and settled on the surviving kochkas of Dezhnev and Popov. Koch Dezhnev behind the cape turned south; after a severe storm he was thrown ashore at the rocky foot of the Koryak Mountains.

“And there were all twenty-five of us on the camp,” Dezhnev later said. “And we all went up the mountain, we didn’t know our own way, we were cold and hungry, naked and barefoot... And out of hunger we, poor people, scattered apart.” . Twelve people reached the river. The Anadyrs spent the winter at its mouth with great hardships. The following year, Dezhnev found rich deposits of walrus tusks near the mouth of the river - an expensive commodity in those days.

Koch Popov was carried far to the south by the storm. He landed in Kamchatka and spent the winter at the mouth of the river. Kamchatka, and then went to sea. Kochi Dezhneva and Popova passed from the Arctic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean through the strait that now bears the name of Bering.

Russian sailors and explorers thus explored the entire northern coast of Eurasia and the seas washing it, making a significant contribution to the chronicle of great geographical discoveries, essentially solving the problem of the North-Eastern passage to the countries of the East. Dezhnev's voyage and his discovery of the strait between Asia and America, some scientists of the 19th century. It was no coincidence that it was compared to the feat of Christopher Columbus.

Search Southern mainland

After Vasco da Gama circumnavigated southern Africa and the Portuguese colonialists rushed to India and the Spice Islands, and Magellan discovered the strait between the American mainland and Tierra del Fuego, geographers were faced with a fascinating mystery: how far does it extend to the south? Tierra del Fuego and is there any land south of East Asia? After all, the writings of ancient writers speak of a large land mass in the southern hemisphere; on Ptolemy's map it occupies the entire space around the South Pole and is connected to Africa in the west and Asia in the east. But Ptolemy turned out to be wrong - Africa is washed from the south by the ocean. So is there even an unknown Southern continent? It is not at all easy to abandon the usual views, especially since legends about its fabulous riches and flourishing nature were persistently associated with the Southern continent. The question of Tierra del Fuego was accidentally resolved by the English pirate Drake, who attacked Spanish ships off the coast of America.

In 1578, Drake followed the path of Magellan. Having passed the strait, upon entering the Pacific Ocean, Drake's three ships were caught in a fierce storm that lasted 52 days. Drake’s companion, who wrote a description of the voyage, wrote: “We had no sooner gone out into this sea (called Quiet by others, but for us it turned out to be Mad), when such a furious storm began that we had never experienced... Not far away, mountains were visible at times, and they caused horror, because the wind drove us towards them to certain death; then they disappeared from view.” One ship was missing, another was driven back into the Strait of Magellan by a storm and went to England, and the Golden Hind (the ship on which Drake sailed) was carried almost five degrees to the south. She ended up south of Tierra del Fuego, at Cape Horn. It became clear that Tierra del Fuego is not the Southern Continent. Water area to the south

from it they later began to call the Drake Passage. Having further plundered several Spanish ships with gold and silver along the coast of South America, Drake crossed the Pacific and Indian oceans and came to England with the loot. Within two years and ten months, he completed the second circumnavigation of the world after Magellan.

It would seem that the myth of the Southern Continent was finally dispelled after the discovery of the “Drake Passage”. But in reality everything turned out to be much more complicated. Here the Spaniards continued to search for the legendary Southern continent from their possessions in America. For this purpose, Saavedra (1527-1529), Villalovos (1542), Urdanetta (1565), Mendaña and Quiros (1585) sailed. Quiros and Torres (1605-1606). They discovered many islands in Pacific Ocean, often mistaking them for the Southern continent and further and further entering the high latitudes of the southern hemisphere. And the mainland seemed to be retreating further and further to the south. Finally, Torres managed to walk along the southern coast of New Guinea and see the protrusion of some unknown land even further south. This was Cape York. At the same time, the Dutch navigator Willem Janz (Janeson), sailing in the Malay Archipelago, came across unknown land and, heading south, entered a vast bay among land that had not yet been explored by anyone. This was the Gulf of Carpentaria.

And only in 1642-1643. Dutchman Abel Tasman was lucky enough to see land beyond the 40th parallel. He sailed from the Dutch colony of Amboina along Indian Ocean to the west; from the island of Mauritius he turned south, went beyond the 40th parallel and abruptly changed course to the east. Along the stormy waters of the fortieth parallels, Tasman walked from the 60th to the 140th meridian and soon approached the mainland that now bears his name. He took it for the outskirts of “Terra Australis Incognita” (the unknown Southern Land) and called it Van Diemen’s Land. Tasman proceeded further east and encountered another vast landmass, calling it the Land of the States. In 1644, Tasman described and compiled a detailed map of the northern coasts of Australia from Cape York to the southern tropics. This is how the true Southern continent was discovered - Australia and its neighboring New Zealand (Land of the States). The Dutch authorities kept this important discovery secret so that other countries would not seize the newly discovered lands. Only in the 18th century. The Englishman James Cook again approached Australia and New Zealand, “discovered” them a second time and declared them colonies of England. Thus, the problem of the Southern continent in the half of the 17th century. has not yet been resolved. Remained unknown until late XIX V. space on extreme south globe, beyond the 55th parallel.

Great geographical discoveries were made at a time when economically more developed countries Western Europe The capitalist mode of production took shape and the capitalist class emerged. Initially, these were merchants who made capital from trade, large feudal landowners who used the free labor of slaves, the top rulers of the church who got rich from trade operations, monastic lands and extortions from people besotted with religion. All of them greedily looked for sources and ways of even greater enrichment. Military campaigns against the Arabs (Moors) were blessed and subsidized by the head of the Catholic Church, the Pope. Expecting large profits, influential clergy and bankers helped organize Columbus's voyages. The Spanish king and queen helped outfit Magellan's ships. The English government viewed Drake's pirate activities favorably. Merchant companies invested their funds in organizing many English expeditions to search for sea routes to the East. The thirst for profit also pushed the sailors themselves into unknown distances, although this was often associated with the risk of losing their lives. The Age of Discovery was driven by economic reasons. As a result, some of its states seized vast territories as colonies, making them a source of unprecedented wealth. Hoping for enrichment, streams of settlers poured into the colony. The colonialists enslaved and exterminated millions of local inhabitants in the New World and in the countries of the East. Africa was turned into a “reserved hunting ground” for blacks. Millions

unfortunate people, shackled and in stocks, were transported as living goods by slave traders 1 across the Atlantic Ocean to America, to the plantations of the colonialists. With the discovery of new lands and the seizure of colonies, economic relations between rival colonial powers changed, and new world trade routes emerged.

The great geographical discoveries caused a severe defeat to the church. They showed people with their own eyes the falsity of religious fairy tales about the Earth, its structure, and its creation by God. Advanced scientists began to speak out against the teachings of the church, against religion. “Now,” wrote in the 19th century. Friedrich Engels, “the whole world lay before the eyes of natural scientists,” and he did not fit into the dogmas of “holy scripture.” In the 16th century N. Copernicus published his doctrine of the solar system and the movement of planets around the Sun in the 17th century. the basic laws of planetary motion (celestial mechanics) were explained. It became possible to explain such complex issues as the change of day and night, their duration at different latitudes, the change of seasons, etc. Although church and other obscurantists fiercely fought against the bearers of truly scientific knowledge, cursing and burning scientific books, declaring them heretical , imprisoning scientists in dungeons and burning them at the stake, science dealt religion more and more crushing blows. Only the darkest, most ignorant people still remained (and many still remain in capitalist countries) besotted with religious fables. However, it was during the era of great geographical discoveries that science rebelled against the church. During this era, many natural sciences made enormous progress - astronomy, physics, chemistry, biology, etc.

Who discovered America?

“Columbus discovered America” - every schoolchild knows this. Meanwhile, five centuries before Columbus, the Normans, the best sailors of medieval Europe, visited America.

In the 9th century. Norman Vikings discovered and colonized the island of Iceland. Eirik the Red in 982 discovered the largest island on earth - Greenland. Around 987, the Icelandic sailor Bjarni and his retinue headed from Iceland to Greenland.

The path to Greenland was still poorly known to the Normans. Instead of Greenland, They sailed far to the west and saw an unknown land covered with forest. These were the shores of America or the island of Newfoundland. Bjarni's companions decided that they needed to land on the shore, but Bjarni, who wanted to get to Greenland as quickly as possible, forbade them to stop.

1 The slave trade in markets in South America continued into early XIX V.

The ship turned into the open sea. Having reached Greenland, Bjarni then returned to his homeland and spoke about the lands he had seen in the west. Under the influence of his story, in 1000 Leif the Happy, the son of the discoverer of Greenland, Eirik the Red, decided to go in search of lands in the west and was the first of the inhabitants of the Old World to set foot on American soil. Thus, almost five hundred years before Columbus, America was discovered. Does this diminish the glory of the great explorer Christopher Columbus? Of course not! After all, the discoveries of the Normans had no historical significance: they were accidental and remained without consequences. That is why scientists rightly believe that the glory of Columbus cannot be eclipsed by either Bjarni, who saw the coast of America, or Leif, or any fisherman from the shores of Europe, who, perhaps, managed to see American soil before the great traveler - Columbus.



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