By the time it became a federal holiday in , most states already recognized Columbus Day. Leif Erikson Day made its debut in the early 20th century too, but it never gained the same momentum. Today, the clash between Columbus and Erikson has faded. And the question about Columbus Day is whether we should celebrate it at all.
Follow Becky Little on Twitter. All rights reserved. Columbus vs. Erikson In , the U. Share Tweet Email. Read This Next Wild parakeets have taken a liking to London.
Animals Wild Cities Wild parakeets have taken a liking to London Love them or hate them, there's no denying their growing numbers have added an explosion of color to the city's streets. India bets its energy future on solar—in ways both small and big. Environment Planet Possible India bets its energy future on solar—in ways both small and big Grassroots efforts are bringing solar panels to rural villages without electricity, while massive solar arrays are being built across the country.
Epic floods leave South Sudanese to face disease and starvation. Travel 5 pandemic tech innovations that will change travel forever These digital innovations will make your next trip safer and more efficient. But will they invade your privacy? Today his historic legacy as a daring explorer who 'discovered' the New World has been challenged. His voyages launched centuries of European exploration and colonisation of the American continents.
His encounters also triggered centuries of exploitation of native American populations. Browse our best selling books, or pick up nautical inspired homewares. Visit us. National Maritime Museum. Plan your visit. Top things to do.
Shop nautical gifts Browse our best selling books, or pick up nautical inspired homewares Shop. The Nautical Puzzle Book is packed to the brim with over puzzles inspired by the National Maritime Museum's objects and their stories Buy Now.
Plimsoll Line Whisky Glass. This attractive Plimsoll Line Whisky Glass is etched with an image of Samuel Plimsoll, 19th Century coal merchant and British MP, as well as it's very own 'Plimsoll Line', in this case used to mark the 'safe load' for a generous helping of spirit Dollond Quarter Size Sundial.
Our wooden-boxed brass sundial is a completely self-contained portable instrument, inspired by a design from the 18th century instrument maker Peter Dollond, founder of a great optical empire Visit Us. Search Want to search our collection?
According to the U. National Park Service, "the land bridge played a vital role in the spread of plant and animal life between the continents. Many species of animals - the woolly mammoth, mastodon, scimitar cat, Arctic camel, brown bear, moose, muskox, and horse — to name a few — moved from one continent to the other across the Bering land bridge.
Birds, fish, and marine mammals established migration patterns that continue to this day. And archaeologists say that humans followed, in a never-ending hunt for food, water and shelter. Once here, humans dispersed all across North and eventually Central and South America. Up until the s, these first Americans had a name: the Clovis peoples.
They get their name from an ancient settlement discovered near Clovis, New Mexico, dated to over 11, years ago. And DNA suggests they are the direct ancestors of nearly 80 percent of all indigenous people in the Americas. But there's more. Today, it's widely believed that before the Clovis people, there were others, and as Bawaya says, "they haven't really been identified.
We call them, for lack of a better name, the Pre-Clovis people. And to make things more complicated, recent discoveries are threatening to push back the arrival of humans in North America even further back in time.
Perhaps as far back as 20, years or more. But the science on this is far from settled. So for now, the Clovis and the Pre-Clovis peoples, long disappeared but still existent in the genetic code of nearly all native Americans, deserve the credit for discovering America. But those people arrived on the western coast.
What about arrivals from the east? Was Columbus the first European to glimpse the untamed, verdant paradise that America must have been centuries ago?
There is proof that Europeans visited what is now Canada about years before Columbus set sail. They were Vikings, and evidence of their presence can be found on the Canadian island of Newfoundland at a place called l'Anse Aux Meadows.
Today the area is barren, but a thousand years ago there were trees everywhere and the area likely was used as winter stopover point, where Vikings repaired their boats and sat out bad weather.
It's not quite clear if the area was a permanent settlement, but it is clear that the expansion-minded Norsemen were here long before Columbus. And to add one fascinating wrinkle to the story of America's discover, consider the Sweet Potato.
0コメント