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n– 1497
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Younhave to remember how little was known about our big old world, way back when, morenthan 500 years ago. People couldn’t have imagined how big andnespecially how old the world was…and they didn’t know how manyncontinents and large islands there might be, nor how large the seasnin between the lands were, nor what the best routes from Point A tonPoint B might be.
Younhave to remember how little was known about our big old world, way back when, morenthan 500 years ago. People couldn’t have imagined how big andnespecially how old the world was…and they didn’t know how manyncontinents and large islands there might be, nor how large the seasnin between the lands were, nor what the best routes from Point A tonPoint B might be.n
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nWhennwe say “voyage of discovery”—we mean a voyage into the completenunknown, a brave attempt to discover useful knowledge (and riches). n
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nPortugal’snKing John II knew a lot more than most, because Portuguese sailorsnhad been exploring Africa bit by bit, sailing ships farther andnfarther south along the continent. Finally, in 1488, a captain namednBartolomeu Dias had rounded the bottom of the continent and startedntraveling north-east instead of south, as far as Fish River in whatnis now South Africa. He reported seeing coastline stretching on andnon to the north-east…
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Thennext of Portugal’s kings, Manuel I, sent out another expedition. Henchose Vasco da Gama as the captain—and he told him to travel allnthe way to India, a land previously explored by overland travelers,nand to obtain trading rights for spices.
Thennext of Portugal’s kings, Manuel I, sent out another expedition. Henchose Vasco da Gama as the captain—and he told him to travel allnthe way to India, a land previously explored by overland travelers,nand to obtain trading rights for spices.n
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nVasconda Gama led a fleet of four ships with combined crews of 170 men.nThey sailed away from Lisbon on this day in 1497. They had no doubt heardnabout Christopher Columbus’s journeys to the “Indies” (althoughnColumbus hadn’t actually reached the East Indies, as he had hoped),nbut these ships were sailing south and east rather than west, and they werendetermined to return successful.
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Innactual fact, only 55 of the men returned at all, on just two of the ships.nAlthough the expedition met many dangers and difficulties, includingnhostile Muslim traders and an unimpressed King of Calicut whondemanded more payment than the “trivial” gifts Gama gave him onnbehalf of King Manuel I, the main reason so few men lived tonreturn was that Gama ignored the locals’ knowledge of the monsoonsnand tried to make an Indian Ocean crossing at the wrong time.nEarlier that year, the crossing eastward took just 23 days, butnfighting the monsoon winds, the westward crossing took 132 days. Manynof Gama’s men died, and many of those who survived the crossing were suffering from scurvy.nAfter some recovery time, Gama led the two surviving ships backnaround the Cape of Good Hope and eventually northward to Portugal. n
Innactual fact, only 55 of the men returned at all, on just two of the ships.nAlthough the expedition met many dangers and difficulties, includingnhostile Muslim traders and an unimpressed King of Calicut whondemanded more payment than the “trivial” gifts Gama gave him onnbehalf of King Manuel I, the main reason so few men lived tonreturn was that Gama ignored the locals’ knowledge of the monsoonsnand tried to make an Indian Ocean crossing at the wrong time.nEarlier that year, the crossing eastward took just 23 days, butnfighting the monsoon winds, the westward crossing took 132 days. Manynof Gama’s men died, and many of those who survived the crossing were suffering from scurvy.nAfter some recovery time, Gama led the two surviving ships backnaround the Cape of Good Hope and eventually northward to Portugal. nn
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Evennthough Gama’s relations with the King of Calicut were strained andntrading rights hadn’t been established, Gama received a hero’snwelcome back in Portugal. He had of course mapped out more unknownnlands and seas, he’d succeeded in reaching India from Europe by sean(which had never been done before), and he had brought back spicesnand other goods worth sixty times what the expedition cost!
Evennthough Gama’s relations with the King of Calicut were strained andntrading rights hadn’t been established, Gama received a hero’snwelcome back in Portugal. He had of course mapped out more unknownnlands and seas, he’d succeeded in reaching India from Europe by sean(which had never been done before), and he had brought back spicesnand other goods worth sixty times what the expedition cost!n
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nAlsonon this date:
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nAnniversary of the first ice cream sundae (maybe!)
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nCoca cola inventor John Pemberton’s birthday
