History of America 106

[Technosoul]

Back in the old world in the old days there was this fellow who thought the world was round. And he had this tatoo to prove it, which was a saliors ancor and on the top it said "mother" and on the bottom it said "the world is round".

And they all thought he was a nut, and when he walked by the barber shop they would say "here comes crazy Chris" and they would start to giggle "how's the big round world treating you today Chriss" and laughed, but he would just show him his tatoo and walked on.

But he had never been to camp so he thought he would go on a trip and he went to see the Queen of Italy for some welfare money to sail around the world.

Well, the Queen had this thing for sailors and so she said, "if you show me your tatoo I will pay for your trip and give you three boats". So he showed her his tatoo and she reached over to touch it, he told her not to touch the part that said "Mother".

And so he got his boats and set sail and discovered Amrieca.

Which only goes to prove, if you have a dream, and a tatoo, someone they might name a town in Ohio after you.

based on a story by Andy Griffith.

[triad]

I'm going to get a tattoo that says, 'there is something on your face'.


Then when I am out for supper with someone, and they get food on their face - I'll show them the tat.


Is this the same magnitude of a dream that you're talking about?

[gallo]

The OP is actually without interest, but it does bring to mind an item in the news segment of "Good Morning America" this morning. Chris Cuomo, an Italian-American, had some fun with the piece that reported that Christopher Columbus was actually Spanish or Portuguese rather than Italian.

It's actually an old story, and pretty well established, though denied by Italian-Americans, that Columbus was not Italian. That is not to say that he was not born in Italy, Genoa in fact. When Columbus was born, Genoa was under the domination of Castile, in Spain. Columbus' father may have been a minor Spanish official assigned to Italy.

There is other evidence. The name Columbus is anglicized. In Italian it was Colombo (it means dove or pigeon). When Columbus went to Iberia, he first entered through Portugal where he sought financing from the Portuguese crown. While there he took the name Pombo, which is a literal translation of his name into Portuguese. When he went on to Spain (specifically Castilla, or Castile), it would have been logical for him to adopt Palomo as his name, the name of the same bird in Castillano (what we call Spanish today), but he didn't. Instead, he is known in Spanish as Colón - not Italian, not Portuguese, not Spanish, but Catalán. At that time Cataluña - or Catalunya in Catalán - (the north east region of the Iberian peninsula) was under the domination of Castile. Today, Cataluña in one of the autonomous communities of the Spanish nation. Catalán is still spoken.

But I digress. Why is it that Columbus used the specific word that was the translation of his name, "dove", as he moved from country to country (Colombo, Pombo) except in Spain (Palomo) where he took a provincial name, Colón. Of course, as you all remember from your world history classes, Isabel of Castile at first turned Columbus down, and he went on to France, where he was known as Colombe before he was recalled by Isabel and given his three ships.

The reasoning is that when Columbus went to Spain, he adopted his traditional family name. In other words, he could have very well been of Catalán ancestry.

And then there are Columbus' journals. They still exist today and linguists have studied them extensively. They are written in Spanish (Castilian). There are many errors in spelling and grammar that indicate that Columbus was not a native speaker of Spanish. When those errors are compared to typical errors made by native Italians of the time, and to typical errors of native Catalans of the time, Columbus comes out as a Catalán.

Interesting, although it will never be known for certain. I guess, since everyone agrees that Columbus was born in Genoa, we'll let the Italians have this one, even though he was probably born of immigrants.

[Technosoul]

Quote by: gallo The OP is actually without interest, but it does bring to mind an item in the news segment of "Good Morning America" this morning. Chris Cuomo, an Italian-American, had some fun with the piece that reported that Christopher Columbus was actually Spanish or Portuguese rather than Italian. It's actually an old story, and pretty well established, though denied by Italian-Americans, that Columbus was not Italian. That is not to say that he was not born in Italy, Genoa in fact. When Columbus was born, Genoa was under the domination of Castile, in Spain. Columbus' father may have been a minor Spanish official assigned to Italy. There is other evidence. The name Columbus is anglicized. In Italian it was Colombo (it means dove or pigeon). When Columbus went to Iberia, he first entered through Portugal where he sought financing from the Portuguese crown. While there he took the name Pombo, which is a literal translation of his name into Portuguese. When he went on to Spain (specifically Castilla, or Castile), it would have been logical for him to adopt Palomo as his name, the name of the same bird in Castillano (what we call Spanish today), but he didn't. Instead, he is known in Spanish as Colón - not Italian, not Portuguese, not Spanish, but Catalán. At that time Cataluña - or Catalunya in Catalán - (the north east region of the Iberian peninsula) was under the domination of Castile. Today, Cataluña in one of the autonomous communities of the Spanish nation. Catalán is still spoken. But I digress. Why is it that Columbus used the specific word that was the translation of his name, "dove", as he moved from country to country (Colombo, Pombo) except in Spain (Palomo) where he took a provincial name, Colón. Of course, as you all remember from your world history classes, Isabel of Castile at first turned Columbus down, and he went on to France, where he was known as Colombe before he was recalled by Isabel and given his three ships. The reasoning is that when Columbus went to Spain, he adopted his traditional family name. In other words, he could have very well been of Catalán ancestry. And then there are Columbus' journals. They still exist today and linguists have studied them extensively. They are written in Spanish (Castilian). There are many errors in spelling and grammar that indicate that Columbus was not a native speaker of Spanish. When those errors are compared to typical errors made by native Italians of the time, and to typical errors of native Catalans of the time, Columbus comes out as a Catalán. Interesting, although it will never be known for certain. I guess, since everyone agrees that Columbus was born in Genoa, we'll let the Italians have this one, even though he was probably born of immigrants.

That is interesting. He must have had some sort of important standing to be able to get a hearing with kings and queens. I assume he was involved in the business of trade (perhaps with India or China) and not just some poor fisherman or whatever. And back in the days of imperialism they had a kind of treaty that the first person to draw a map and name it, then that country owned the out post (island or whatever). I do not know how England ended up claiming ownership of so much area after the others had planted their flags and drew the maps? We still use the name America which is not british at all. (forgot how to spell the map makers name).

No doubt when Columbus returned he was not all that well recieved because he did not have a ship full of gold and silver, race spices, or the many other things a trip to China or India would have scored. They more or less came home empty handed. However the news of a vast unexplored area must of raised hopes, and furs and lumber were popular products. I guess England saw the advantages here in the farmlands. Some countires might of thought it was a good place to relocate unwanted persons, to empty out the prisons and poor neighborhoods? But most of the settlements were small ones, like they had along the coast of Africa.