Why is the discovery of America important. Pre-Columbian Expeditions to America. Conspiracy theories surrounding the discovery of America

1st expedition

The first expedition of Christopher Columbus (1492-1493), consisting of 91 people on the ships Santa Maria, Pinta, Nina, left Pálos de la Frontera on August 3, 1492, turned from the Canary Islands to West (September 9), crossed the Atlantic Ocean in the subtropical zone and reached the island of San Salvador in the Bahamas, where Christopher Columbus landed on October 12, 1492 (the official date of the discovery of America). October 14-24, Christopher Columbus visited a number of other Bahamas, and on October 28-December 5 opened and examined the site north east coast Cuba. On December 6, Columbus reached Fr. Haiti and moved along the north coast. On the night of December 25, the flagship Santa Maria landed on a reef, but people escaped. Columbus on the ship "Nina" on January 4-16, 1493 completed the survey of the northern coast of Haiti and on March 15 returned to Castile.

2nd expedition

The 2nd expedition (1493-1496), which Christopher Columbus led already in the rank of admiral and in the position of viceroy of the newly discovered lands, consisted of 17 ships with a crew of over 1.5 thousand people. November 3, 1493 Columbus discovered the islands of Dominica and Guadeloupe, turning to the North-West - about 20 more Small Antilles, including Antigua and the Virgin Islands, and on November 19 - the island of Puerto Rico and approached north coast Haiti. On March 12-29, 1494, Columbus, in search of gold, made an aggressive campaign into Haiti, and crossed the Cordillera Central ridge. On April 29-May 3, Columbus with 3 ships passed along the southeastern coast of Cuba, turned from Cape Cruz to the South, and on May 5 discovered about. Jamaica. Returning on May 15 to Cape Cruz, Columbus walked along south coast Cuba to 84° west longitude, discovered the Jardines de la Reina archipelago, the Zapata peninsula and the island of Pinos. June 24, Christopher Columbus turned east and explored August 19-September 15 the entire South coast Haiti. In 1495 Christopher Columbus continued the conquest of Haiti; March 10, 1496 left the island and June 11 returned to Castile.

3rd expedition

The 3rd expedition (1498-1500) consisted of 6 vessels, 3 of which Christopher Columbus himself led across the Atlantic Ocean near 10 ° north latitude. On July 31, 1498, he discovered the island of Trinidad, entered the Gulf of Paria from the south, discovered the mouth of the western arm of the Orinoco River Delta and the Paria Peninsula, marking the beginning of the discovery of South America. Then leaving for the Caribbean Sea, Christopher Columbus approached the Araya Peninsula, discovered the island of Margarita on August 15, and on August 31 arrived in the city of Santo Domingo (on the island of Haiti). In 1500, Christopher Columbus was arrested on a denunciation and sent to Castile, where he was released.

4th expedition

4th expedition (1502-1504). Having obtained permission to continue the search western way to India, Columbus with 4 ships reached the island of Martinique on June 15, 1502, on July 30 - the Gulf of Honduras and opened from August 1, 1502 to May 1, 1503 Caribbean shores Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama to Uraba Bay. Turning then to the North, June 25, 1503 was wrecked off the island of Jamaica; help from Santo Domingo came only a year later. Christopher Columbus returned to Castile on November 7, 1504.

Candidates for pioneers

• The first people who settled in America are the native Indians, who crossed there about 30 thousand years ago from Asia along the Bering Isthmus.
• In the 10th century, around 1000, the Vikings led by Leif Eriksson. L'Anse aux Meadows has the remains of a Viking settlement on the continent.
• In 1492 - Christopher Columbus (Genoese in the service of Spain); Columbus himself believed that he opened the way to Asia (hence the name West Indies, Indians).
• In 1507, the cartographer M. Waldseemüller suggested that open lands were named America in honor of the explorer of the New World Amerigo Vespucci - this is considered the moment from which America was recognized as an independent continent.
• There are good reasons to believe that the continent was named after the English patron Richard America from Bristol, who financed the second transatlantic expedition of John Cabot in 1497, and Vespucci took his nickname in honor of the already named continent [ ] . In May 1497, Cabot reached the shores of Labrador, becoming the first officially recorded European to set foot on the North American continent. Cabot mapped the coast North America- from Nova Scotia to Newfoundland. In the Bristol calendar for that year we read: “... on St. John the Baptist was found in the land of America by merchants from Bristol, who arrived on a ship from Bristol with the name "Matthew" ("metik").

Hypothetical

In addition, hypotheses were put forward about visiting America and contact with its civilization by seafarers before Columbus, representing various civilizations of the Old World (for more details, see Contacts with America before Columbus). Here are just a few of these hypothetical contacts:

• in 371 BC. e. - Phoenicians
• in the 5th century - Hui Shen (a Taiwanese Buddhist monk who traveled to the country of Fusang in the 5th century, identified in different versions with Japan or America)
• in the VI century - St. Brendan (Irish monk)
• in the XII century - Madog ap Owain Gwynedd (a Welsh prince, according to legend, visited America in 1170)
• there are versions according to which, at least since the 13th century, America has been known

History of the Discovery of America

When and who discovered America? The issue remains controversial to this day. Because first you need to decide: what is considered the discovery of America? First proven European visit to the New World? This happened half a millennium before Christopher Columbus (remember the Normans). The first settlement of Europeans on the new mainland arose at the same time. Although the Vikings did not appreciate their discovery…

But so is Columbus! The discovery of America at the end of the Middle Ages is of particular importance: it was from that time that the colonization of the new continent by Europeans began, and then its study. However, uncertainty remains. Consider: in the first two expeditions, Columbus explored only the islands adjacent to the New World. Only in the summer of 1498 did he set foot on the land of South America.

A year earlier, members of the English expedition, led by John Cabot, an Italian by birth, reached North America. And in this case, it was assumed that the "Kingdom of the Great Khan" (China) was discovered. In the spring of next year, the voyage was repeated. But the lack of economic benefits, income from such enterprises cooled the interest of the British in the development of new territories. Scientific achievements should be realized and connected with the expansion of the horizons of knowledge. And here - a complete misunderstanding of the essence of what has been achieved. It is more logical to determine the moment when the truth was first revealed. And then the name of Amerigo Vespucci comes to the fore.

But we must pay tribute to the feat of Columbus and his contribution to the knowledge of the Earth. It was he who obtained the evidence (albeit later significantly refined), received facts confirming the idea of ​​the Earth's sphericity. It is no coincidence that he thought trip around the world and tried to make it happen. Let Columbus imagine the Earth much smaller than it really is. More importantly, not only speculatively, in his imagination, but also really, thanks to his travels, he was convinced of the sphericity and closedness of the earthly space.

And yet, the oceans have turned from a great barrier into great connecting links connecting all the continents and all the peoples of the planet. Conditions have developed for the creation of a single all-terrestrial civilization (“oceanic”, according to the idea of ​​L.I. Mechnikov). In the following centuries, it remained only to develop vehicles and make contacts.

A significant fact: almost at the same time with the entry of Columbus into the land of South America, and Cabot - North, the Portuguese flotilla under the command of Vasco da Gama for the first time reached India by sea. Dozens of years later, the Spanish conquistador Vasco Balboa with a military detachment, having overcome mountain slopes and dense thickets, crossed the Isthmus of Panama and was the first European to visit the shores of the unknown "South Sea".

The World Ocean somehow immediately, almost overnight, submitted to people. Why did it happen? First of all, as a result of the appearance of navigational instruments, which make it possible to navigate on the high seas, as well as geographical maps of lands and oceans. Although the instruments and maps were imperfect, they made it possible to navigate in space, set specific goals and pave the way to them.

Christopher Columbus

Amerigo Vespucci was a fairly experienced helmsman and cartographer, he knew navigation; last years life was the chief pilot of Castile (he checked the knowledge of ship helmsmen, supervised the compilation of maps, was engaged in compiling secret reports to the government on new geographical discoveries). He took part in one of the first expeditions to reach " southern mainland”(as South America was originally called) and, perhaps, the first to realize the essence of achievement. In other words, he made a scientific theoretical discovery, while Columbus practically discovered new lands.

At the time of Amerigo, his letter was allegedly printed, which reported on his visit to the southern mainland as early as 1497, that is, before Columbus. But this is not documented. It looks like nothing like that ever happened. But Amerigo's non-involvement in such misunderstandings is beyond doubt. He did not claim the laurels of the discoverer and did not try to assert his priority. This was affected by the popularization of knowledge and the spread of printing.

In Europe, reports of new lands and peoples were in great demand. People understood all the greatness of the deeds performed, their enormous significance for the future. Printing houses promptly printed messages about travels to the west. One of them appeared in 1503 in Italy and France: a small pamphlet entitled " New World". The preface says that it has been translated from Italian into Latin, “so that all educated people know how many wonderful discoveries have been made these days, how many unknown worlds discovered and how rich they are.

The book was a great success with readers. It is written vividly, interestingly, truthfully. It reports (in the form of a letter to Vespucci) about sailing in the summer of 1501 on behalf of the King of Portugal across the stormy Atlantic to the shores of the Unknown Land. It is not called Asia, but the New World.

A little later, another message was published about the voyages of Amerigo Vespucci. And in the end, a collection appeared, including stories by various authors about the voyages of Columbus, Vasco da Gama and some other travelers. The compiler of the collection came up with a catchy title that intrigues readers: "The New World and New Countries Discovered by Alberico Vespucci of Florence."

Thousands of readers of the book could decide that it was Amerigo (Alberico) who discovered both the New World and new countries, although this does not follow from the text at all. But the title is usually better remembered and more impressive than any paragraphs or chapters of the book. In addition, the descriptions written by Amerigo were vivid and convincing, which, no doubt, strengthened his authority as a discoverer.

A little later, Vespucci's "New World" was published in Germany under the title "On the Antarctic Belt." And then the same work, already under the guise of a letter to the lord of a small German kingdom, appeared as an addition to Ptolemy's famous and now classic Cosmography. The whole work was called as follows: “Introduction to cosmography with the basics of geometry and astronomy necessary for it.

Amerigo Vespucci

To this, 4 voyages of Amerigo Vespucci and, in addition, a description (map) of the Universe both on a plane and on a globe of those parts of the world that Ptolemy did not know about and which are open in modern times". About the discovery of America, it is said as follows: "Amerigo Vespucci, truly speaking, has informed mankind more widely about this." The authors of the addition were sure that Amerigo, back in 1497, was the first to set foot on new continent. Therefore, it was proposed to name the discovered land "by the name of the wise man who discovered it."

Rather fantastic outlines of the New World with the inscription: "America" ​​were put on the world map. The sound of this word turned out to be attractive to many people. He was willingly put on the cards. Spread - spontaneously - the opinion of Amerigo as the discoverer of the New World. And among the specialists, the image of a clever rogue, an ambitious swindler who appropriated his name to an entire continent, was becoming more and more definite.

So, a sincere fighter for justice, Las Casas, angrily denounced Amerigo in his writings. But there was not a single document confirming such accusations. Vespucci himself never suggested that the open lands be named after themselves. He quite definitely wrote: "These countries should be called the New World" and referred to facts obtained in travels and research.

The Austrian writer Stefan Zweig said well about Vespucci: “And if, in spite of everything, the sparkling ray of glory fell on him, then this happened not because of his special merits or special guilt, but because of a peculiar combination of circumstances, mistakes, accidents, misunderstandings... A person who talks about a feat and explains it can become more significant for posterity than the one who accomplished it. And in the uncalculable play of historical forces, the slightest push can often cause the strongest consequences ...

America should not be ashamed of its name. This is the name of an honest and courageous man who, already at the age of fifty, set sail three times in a small boat across an unknown ocean, as one of those “unknown sailors”, hundreds of whom at that time risked their lives in dangerous adventures ... This mortal name was transferred to immortality not by the will of one person - it was the will of fate, which is always right, even if it may seem that she is acting unfairly ... And today we use this word, which was invented by chance, in a fun game, as a matter of course, the only conceivable and the only correct one is the sonorous, light-winged word America.

True, there is reason to believe that the New World was named after the Bristol philanthropist Richard America (England), who financed the second transatlantic voyage of John Cabot in 1497, and after that Amerigo Vespucci took the nickname in honor of the continent so named. To prove this version, the researchers cite the facts that Cabot reached the shores of Labrador two years earlier, and therefore became the officially registered first European who set foot on new land.

Navigators such as John Davis, Alexander Mackenzie, Henry Hudson and William Buffin continued to explore the continent of North America. And thanks to their research, a new continent was studied up to Pacific coast. But history knows many other names of sailors who visited the new land even before Amerigo Vespucci and Columbus. This is Hui Shen - a Thai monk who visited there in the 5th century, Abubakar - the Sultan of Mali, who sailed to American coast in the XIV century, the Earl of Orkney de Saint-Clair, the Chinese explorer Zhe He, the Portuguese Juan Corterial, etc.

The discovery of America is an event that made known to the inhabitants of the Old World new part light - America, consisting of two continents. First expedition Christopher Columbus (1492-1493), consisting of 90 people on the ships "Santa Maria", "Pinta", "Nina" left Palos on August 3, 1492, from canary islands turned west (September 9), crossed the Atlantic Ocean in the subtropical zone and reached the island of San Salvador in the Bahamas, where Christopher Columbus landed on October 12, 1492 (the official date of the discovery of America). On October 14-24, Christopher Columbus visited a number of other Bahamas, and on October 28-December 5, he discovered and explored a section of the northeast coast of Cuba. On December 6, Columbus reached Fr. Haiti and moved along its northern coast. On the night of December 25, the flagship Santa Maria landed on a reef, but people escaped. Columbus on the ship "Nina" January 4-16, 1493 completed the survey of the northern coast of Haiti and March 15 returned to Castile. 2nd expedition (1493-1496), which Christopher Columbus headed already in the rank of admiral, and in the position of viceroy of the newly discovered lands, consisted of 17 ships with a crew of over 1.5 thousand people. On November 3, 1493, Columbus discovered the islands of Dominica and Guadeloupe, turning to the North-West - about 20 more Lesser Antilles, including Antigua and the Virgin Islands, and on November 19 - the island of Puerto Rico and approached the northern coast of Haiti. On March 12-29, 1494, Columbus, in search of gold, made an aggressive campaign into Haiti, and crossed the Cordillera Central ridge. On April 29-May 3, Columbus with 3 ships passed along the southeastern coast of Cuba, turned from Cape Cruz to the South, and on May 5 discovered about. Jamaica. Returning on May 15 to Cape Cruz, Columbus walked along the southern coast of Cuba to 84° west longitude, discovered the Jardines de la Reina archipelago, the Zapata Peninsula and the island of Pinos. On June 24, Christopher Columbus turned east and surveyed the entire southern coast of Haiti on August 19-September 15. In 1495 Christopher Columbus continued the conquest of Haiti; March 10, 1496 left the island and June 11 returned to Castile. 3rd expedition (1498-1500) consisted of 6 ships, 3 of which Christopher Columbus himself led across the Atlantic Ocean near 10 ° north latitude. On July 31, 1498, he discovered the island of Trinidad, entered the Gulf of Paria from the south, discovered the mouth of the western branch of the Orinoco Delta and the Paria Peninsula, marking the beginning of the discovery of South America. Having then left for the Caribbean Sea, Christopher Columbus approached the Araya Peninsula, discovered the island of Margarita on August 15, and on August 31 arrived in the city of Santo Domingo (on the island of Haiti). In 1500, Christopher Columbus was arrested on a denunciation and sent to Castile, where he was released.

4th expedition (1502-1504). Having obtained permission to continue searching for a western route to India, Columbus with 4 ships reached the island of Martinique on June 15, 1502, and the Gulf of Honduras on July 30, and discovered from August 1, 1502 to May 1, 1503 the Caribbean coasts of Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama to Uraba Bay. Turning then to the North, June 25, 1503 was wrecked off the island of Jamaica; help from Santo Domingo came only a year later. Christopher Columbus returned to Castile on November 7, 1504.

Portuguese navigator Bartolomeu Dias (1450-1500) was the first to point out the direct sea ​​route from Europe to In 1488 he sailed to the southern edge of Africa. Two of his ships were caught in a violent storm. Strong wind drove the ships onto the rocks. But Diash managed to turn away from the coast and go out to the open sea. For several days he sailed east, but the African coast was not visible. Dias realized that he had circled Africa and went into Indian Ocean! The rock on which the ships almost crashed was the southern tip of Africa. Dias called it the Cape of Storms. But the king of Portugal ordered the rock to be renamed cape. Good Hope. Thanks to Bartolomeu Dias, an exit to the Indian Ocean was found, and a section of the previously unknown coast of Africa over 2.5 thousand km long was mapped.

The Great Journey of Christopher Columbus

The successes of the Portuguese aroused interest in sea expeditions in the neighboring one. The great cartographer and navigator (1451-1506) first proposed to reach the shores of India by western route along Atlantic Ocean. It took him 16 years to obtain permission and funds for this voyage.

The Spanish government gave him three caravels (the most large displacement 280 tons), and in August 1492, an expedition led by Columbus set sail, and in October of the same year reached the Bahamas, thereby discovering America. However, Columbus never found out about this, and until the end of his days he was sure that the mainland he had discovered was India.

Columbus called the local inhabitants (natives) Indians. This name has survived to this day.

Columbus sailed four times to the shores of America, and each time new territories discovered by him appeared on the map. Subsequently, a stream of immigrants from Europe poured into it. So on the islands and the coast Central America Spanish settlements arose.

Colombia is named after Christopher Columbus South America, a river in North America, administrative District in the United States, in which the capital city of Washington is located.

New World - Amerigo Land

The travels of the Florentine navigator Amerigo Vespucci (1454-1512) were important for understanding the essence of the discovery of Christopher Columbus. On commercial business, he several times went by sea to the shores of America (1499-1504). Comparing the information of the Spanish and Portuguese navigators with his own data, Vespucci came to the conclusion that the lands discovered by Columbus were not Asia or India at all, but a new, huge continent unknown to Europeans. Amerigo Vespucci proposed to call this part of the land the New World. Later it was renamed and named in honor of Vespucci "Land of Amerigo", or "America" ​​(by the way, without the knowledge of Vespucci himself), and this name came into use. In 1538 it appeared on the Mercator map.

Vasco da Gama and the opening of the sea route to India

Upon learning of the discovery of "Western India" by Columbus, the Portuguese hurried to find east way. As a result, the navigator Vasco da Gama (1469-1524) circled Africa on four ships and reached the shores of real India in 1498.

Look at the map on p. 50. Judging by the chosen route, the expedition was led by an intelligent, courageous and resolute person who knew navigation very well. The ships managed to avoid two main troubles for sailors: a strong Benguela current and a storm head wind. His ships turned east at the Cape Agulhas parallel, and then followed north along the east coast of Africa to Mozambique. IN port city Mombasa (this is modern Kenya), the expedition members were warily met by dissatisfied eastern merchants, who sensed competitors in them. But no matter how much they were annoyed, they were unable to change anything.

The local ruler gave the travelers a good pilot, who in just 23 days led the Portuguese caravels to the Indian shores. Thus, Vasco da Gama's expedition safely crossed the Indian Ocean and reached the city of Calicut, a port in southern India. The Portuguese trade for the first time was not particularly successful. The local rich were distrustful of strangers and were in no hurry to take their goods. However, the Portuguese managed to buy spices, fabrics and jewelry from the local market - a little bit of everything. After that they went back to .

The way back was difficult: the daredevils had to fight off the pirates, the crew of the ships were mowed down by illness and bad luck. Of the 168 people, only 55 returned to their homeland. The rest died on the way. Nevertheless, the expedition fulfilled its mission: the sea route to India was found. Opening it to Europeans is one of greatest events in the development of geography, as well as in the history of world trade. From that moment until the construction of the Suez Canal (1869), the main trade of European countries with states and China did not go through the Mediterranean, but through the Atlantic Ocean - past the Cape of Good Hope.

Wake up anyone in the middle of the night with the question: “Who discovered America first?”, And without hesitation, they will immediately give you the correct answer, calling the name of Christopher Columbus. This is for everyone known fact , which, it would seem, no one disputes. But was Columbus the first European to set foot on a new land? Not at all. Question one: "So who?". But Columbus was called for a reason discoverer.

In contact with

How did Columbus discover

In what century did such significant changes for the world take place? The official date for the discovery of a new continent called the Americas is 1499, 15th century. At that time, speculation began to appear among the inhabitants of Europe that the earth was round. They began to think about the possibility of navigation on the Atlantic Ocean and the opening of the western route straight to the shores of Asia.

The story of how Columbus discovered America is very funny. It so happened that he randomly stumbled upon the New World, holding the way to distant India.

Christopher was an avid sailor, from a young age who managed to visit all known at that time. Carefully studying a huge number of geographical maps, Columbus planned to sail to India through the Atlantic without passing through Africa.

He, like many scientists of that time, naively believed that, having gone straight from Western Europe to the east, he will reach the shores of such Asian countries like China and India. No one could even imagine what was in his way all of a sudden. new lands will appear.

It is the day when Columbus reached the shores of the new mainland and is considered beginning of American history.

Continents discovered by Columbus

Christopher is considered the one who discovered North America. But in parallel with it, after the news of the New World spread to all countries, in the struggle for the development northern territories the British entered.

In total, the navigator made four expeditions. The continents that Columbus discovered: the island of Haiti or, as the traveler himself called it, Lesser Spain, Puerto Rico, Jamaica, Antigua and many other territories of North America. From 1498 to 1504, during his last expeditions, the navigator already mastered lands of south america, where he reached the shores of not only Venezuela, but also Brazil. A little later, the expedition reached Central America where they were mastered coastlines Nicaragua and Honduras, all the way to Panama.

Who else mastered America

Formally, many navigators opened America to the world in different ways. History counts many names associated with the development of the lands of the New World. The Columbus case continued:

• Alexander Mackenzie;
• William Buffin;
• Henry Hudson;
• John Davis.

Thanks to these navigators, the entire continent was explored and mastered, including Pacific coast.

Also, another discoverer of America is considered at least famous person - Amerigo Vespucci. The Portuguese navigator went on expeditions and explored the coast of Brazil.

It was he who first suggested that Christopher Columbus sailed far not to China and India, but to previously unknown. His conjectures were confirmed by Fernand Magellan, after making the first trip around the world.

It is believed that the mainland was named precisely in honor of Vespucci, contrary to all the logic of what is happening. And today the New World is known to everyone under the name of America, and not in any other way. So who really discovered America?

Pre-Columbian expeditions to the Americas

In the legends and beliefs of the Scandinavian peoples, one can often stumble upon the mention of distant lands called Vinland located near Greenland. Historians believe that it was the Vikings who discovered America and became the first Europeans to set foot on the lands of the New World, and in their legends, Vinland is nothing more than Newfoundland.

Everyone knows how Columbus discovered America, but in fact Christopher was far away not the first navigator who visited this continent. Leif Erickson, who named one of the parts of the new continent as Vinland, cannot be called the discoverer either.

Who is considered first? Historians dare to believe that he was a merchant from distant Scandinavia - Bjarni Herjulfsson, which is mentioned in the Greenlanders' Saga. According to this literary work, in 985. he moved towards Greenland to meet his father, but lost his way due to a strong storm.

Before the discovery of America, the merchant had to sail at random, since he had not seen the lands of Greenland before and did not know a specific course. He soon reached the level shores unknown island covered with forests. Such a description did not fit Greenland at all, which surprised him greatly. Bjarni decided not to land and turn back.

Soon he sailed to Greenland, where he told this story to Leif Erickson, the son of the discoverer of Greenland. Exactly he became the first of the vikings who tried their luck to enter to the lands of America before Columbus, which he called Vinland.

Forced search for new lands

Important! Greenland is not the most pleasant country to live in. It is poor in resources, with a harsh climate. The possibility of resettlement at that time seemed like a pipe dream for the Vikings.

Stories about fertile lands covered with dense forests only spurred them on. Erickson gathered a small team for himself and set off on a journey in search of new territories. Leif became the one who discovered North America.

First uncharted places which they stumbled upon were rocky and mountainous. In their description today, historians see nothing more than baffin land. The subsequent coasts turned out to be low-lying, with green forests and long sandy beaches. This historians were very reminded of the description coast of the Labrador Peninsula in Canada.

On the new lands, wood was mined, which is so hard to find in Greenland. Subsequently, the Vikings founded the first two settlements in the New World, and all these territories were called Vinland.

The scientist who was nicknamed the "second Columbus"

The famous German geographer, naturalist and traveler are all one great person who is called Alexander Humboldt.

This great scientist opened America to others on the scientific side, having spent many years on research, and he was not alone. About what kind of partner he needed, Humbaldt did not hesitate for a long time and immediately made his choice in favor of Bonpland.

Humboldt and French botanist in 1799. went to scientific expedition to South America and Mexico, which lasted for five years. This journey brought scientists worldwide fame, and Humboldt himself was called the "second Columbus".

It is believed that in 1796 The scientist set himself the following tasks:

• explore little-studied areas of the globe;
• systematize all the information received;
• taking into account the results of research by other scientists, a comprehensive description of the structure of the universe.

All tasks, of course, were successfully completed. After the discovery of America as a continent, no one dared to conduct such research. Therefore, he decides to go to the least explored area - the West Indies, which allows him to achieve tremendous results. Humboldt created first geographic Maps area, thoroughly studied its geology and, while collecting unique collections of plants, as well as zoological collections.

Attention! How did Columbus discover the world new mainland, so Humboldt opened it to science. That is why the scientist was nicknamed "the second Columbus".

Mysterious Christopher Columbus

Alexander Humboldt and his travels

Conclusion

It can be concluded that many prominent navigators discovered America almost simultaneously, but in world history the name of Christopher Columbus will always be the first in the list of those who mastered the territories of the New World.