LIFE EXPLAINED, PART 38

Christopher Columbus no more "discovered" America than Isaac Newton discovered gravity. Both America and gravity existed long before these guys pointed out their existence to some other people. In the case of Columbus, his discovery came as no shock to the people already living in the Americas. They didn't call it The New World, they called it The World, the only one they knew about. So maybe to them, Christopher Columbus discovered Spain. In any case, Columbus' discovery didn't work out so great for them. Nothing like The Spanish Inquisition and the complete destruction of your culture to sour you on Spanish immigration. In Newton's case, the laws of gravity were universally obeyed by all even before he wrote them down. Everybody knew that if pigs had wings they still couldn't fly but at least we'd have a tasty new cut of pork.