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Quote from: Shallow on October 13, 2004, 02:47:11 PMQuote from: Ozir on October 13, 2004, 10:45:03 AM^I agree with you, but I don't agree with having a holiday in his honor because he "discovered" America... Peeps were already here!I don't care for the holiday either way, but he did discover America for the Europeans, as far as the story goes. Europeans would have figured out the world was round after the enlightenment any way, but Columbus was the first to proclaim it in Europe at that time, and he is credited for his idea.first off, the Greeks discovered the world was round. Any European that thought the world was flat was more than likely a backwoods country European. The only problem was that people were afriad to travel around the world, for fear of the unknown. There was rumored to be monsters and whatnot. Also, how big the world was, was also misjudged. They thought that if the world was round, it was only the world that they knew. They did not think that there was room for a whole 'nother world. To even further the thought of Columbus not discovering America, even for the Europeans, Vikings have been trading with Natives in Canada for hundreds of years before Columbus. Wit Columbue though, is his sailing came to find a short cut to India, and was funded by the newly freed Spain. Spain had been under Moore rule for 700 years, and was freed in 1492. Their first big mission was to find a short cut to India.
Quote from: Ozir on October 13, 2004, 10:45:03 AM^I agree with you, but I don't agree with having a holiday in his honor because he "discovered" America... Peeps were already here!I don't care for the holiday either way, but he did discover America for the Europeans, as far as the story goes. Europeans would have figured out the world was round after the enlightenment any way, but Columbus was the first to proclaim it in Europe at that time, and he is credited for his idea.
^I agree with you, but I don't agree with having a holiday in his honor because he "discovered" America... Peeps were already here!
Quote from: Lost Angel on October 13, 2004, 03:46:33 PMQuote from: Shallow on October 13, 2004, 02:47:11 PMQuote from: Ozir on October 13, 2004, 10:45:03 AM^I agree with you, but I don't agree with having a holiday in his honor because he "discovered" America... Peeps were already here!I don't care for the holiday either way, but he did discover America for the Europeans, as far as the story goes. Europeans would have figured out the world was round after the enlightenment any way, but Columbus was the first to proclaim it in Europe at that time, and he is credited for his idea.first off, the Greeks discovered the world was round. Any European that thought the world was flat was more than likely a backwoods country European. The only problem was that people were afriad to travel around the world, for fear of the unknown. There was rumored to be monsters and whatnot. Also, how big the world was, was also misjudged. They thought that if the world was round, it was only the world that they knew. They did not think that there was room for a whole 'nother world. To even further the thought of Columbus not discovering America, even for the Europeans, Vikings have been trading with Natives in Canada for hundreds of years before Columbus. Wit Columbue though, is his sailing came to find a short cut to India, and was funded by the newly freed Spain. Spain had been under Moore rule for 700 years, and was freed in 1492. Their first big mission was to find a short cut to India.Yeah I know all about the Greeks, I am one. I never get to listen to anything else but the Greeks this, the Greeks that. What I don't get is that the word Greek is a deragatory term made up by the Romans after they conquered Greece (or the Hellenic Union, what ever you prefer). To call a me a Greek isn't much different than calling a black guy a nigger. Well anyway, I just thought it was funny that Greeks accept it with out any type of arguments. I guess after 2000 years of slavery, from one ruler to another, they got used to it.As for your statement. Greek culture and studies were not present in the 1400s. The Enlightenment didn't happen yet, and the Greek documents were not yet presented to Spain, England, or France. The Greek that actually measured the circumference of the Earth, I think his name was Eratosthenes, 39,300 km is what he got, the actual number is 40,075.16 km. That's pretty close when using shadows and light, and a hell of a mathematical mathod. To be only 700 kms off is amazing. But this was not known to the Europeans. You must remember that during his time The Muslims still had rule over all the Greek land and documents. Greece didn't actually become liberated until the 1800s, but the Europeans gained access to the Greek documents before that. Rome had all that knowledge, but it was taken over too, mid first milenium, and when the Frankish Kings and such took over Rome,they didn't bother keeping around any educational material. You can only imagine how much further Science and Math would be today, if it didn't take a 1000 year break in the western world. The bottom line is, it was not comon knowlegde to Europeans that the worl was round. Remember, these were the dark ages.
I know Greco that is what I usually call Greeks(I mean no offense) I am Italian. My girlfriend speaks Turkish and Arabic(and of course english) so it might be Greek in one of those languages I will ask when I see her later today(probably turkish). Hellonics are cool in my book. BTW- We are gonna be vacationing to Rhodes in a couple of months you have any suggestions on where to visit?
cool... now I am learning something. I love this, I never knew Greek was a disrespectful term. I have friends that are Greek, and they use that term. Since the country is Greece, I thought it was the proper term. Good posting here.