The virtues of the explorer

Columbus Day was established as a national holiday by FDR in 1937 to commemorate Christopher Columbus, who discovered the New World on Oct. 12, 1492, when he made landfall on what is now known as San Salvador in the Bahama Islands. Although many give him credit, Columbus didn't discover America, but he inspired many successors who explored coastal lands and made settlements in what later came to be known as America.

Born in 1451 in the Republic of Genoa, or what is now Italy, Columbus was remarkable in many ways. According to his writings, from an early age he had a passion for seafaring, astronomy, geometry, arithmetic, navigation and exploration. Arriving on the scene a full century before Galileo, Columbus also had the courage to go against the orthodox belief of his age that the earth was the center of the universe. He was convinced that by calculating the position of the sun, the moon and the stars he could navigate a more direct route from Europe to India and the Spice Islands by sailing west around the earth. Until that time, the route to the India had been east over land or sailing a long and indirect route south around Africa and then north and east. 

In addition to having bravery and skill, Columbus was a devoted Christian who attributed his passions, ability and vison to his creator. In his 30s, he spent seven years traipsing across Europe trying to persuade monarchs to finance his expedition. Columbus encountered one rejection after another. Most criticized his proposed venture as foolhardy — even ridiculing him. 
Then everything changed. Few years in history have been punctuated by such pivotal events as what happened in Spain in 1492. It was in that year that Christendom, still suffering from the loss of Constantinople to the Muslim Turks 40 years earlier, drove Islam out of Europe and undertook spreading its influence to new territories and people. Both were made possible by Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand, who defeated the last Muslim enclave in Granada on the Spanish peninsula and then threw their support behind Columbus.  Unlike other monarchs, Isabella and Ferdinand had willing ears for Columbus, not just on account of his seafaring skills and vision for a westward passage, but also because of his Christian character and evangelistic zeal.

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