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NEWS ABOUT: Christopher Columbus

Columbus? Meh. Today Should Be Immigration Day

It makes more sense than 'Indigenous Peoples' Day': Philip Bump

(Newser) - Christopher Columbus is seen by some as the person who opened the door to the genocide of Native Americans—and as such, those people celebrate today as Indigenous Peoples’ Day rather than Columbus Day. On Mediaite , Philip Bump appreciates that sentiment, but notes that it’s a little “knee-jerk.... More »

Columbus Was Polish King's Son: Historian

We've had it wrong 500 years, says researcher

(Newser) - Christopher Columbus’ origins have long been shrouded in mystery—was he Italian? Spanish? Greek? None of the above: In fact, his father was a Polish king, argues Columbus expert Manuel Rosa in a new book. Rosa holds that the adventurer's father was Vladislav III, who was not killed in 1444... More »

Stop Blaming Columbus for Syphilis

It was in Europe long before he sailed to America

(Newser) - Because the first recorded cases of European syphilis occurred in 1495, Christopher Columbus has often been blamed for introducing the disease to his home shores. The explorer may still may have brought syphilis back—he and his crew had ample opportunities for exposure—but it was present on his side... More »

Christopher Columbus Belongs on Death Row

His legacy is an 'unspeakably cruel' one, writes Eric Kasum

(Newser) - It's Columbus Day, kids, and that means it's time to honor a man "who, if he were alive today, would almost certainly be sitting on Death Row awaiting execution," writes Eric Kasum for the Huffington Post . Kasum commemorates the holiday by recounting the true tale of Christopher Columbus,... More »

Beware of E.T.: Stephen Hawking

Famed physicist believes in aliens, but not that they come in peace

(Newser) - Life almost certainly exists elsewhere in the universe, and humans on Earth should be doing everything in their power to keep away from the alien beings, Stephen Hawking says. "We only have to look at ourselves to see how intelligent life might develop into something we wouldn’t want... More »

Columbus the Crusader's Legacy Endures

Americans forget religious fervor drove the 1492 expedition

(Newser) - This Columbus Day, James Carroll invites us to reconsider the man and his motivations. Pop culture has secularized Columbus, concentrating on his mission in search of gold, spices, and trade routes. That ignores his central motivation: expanding the dominion of Christianity. An “old Crusader” ambition motivated Columbus, Carroll writes... More »

States, Employers Un-Discover Columbus Day

It's dropping off the calendar as a holiday in many states

(Newser) - Columbus Day is rapidly sailing off the calendar all over the US. Some 22 states no longer give their workers the day off and many employers have begun "holiday swapping," requiring workers to come in on Columbus Day in return for an extra day off at Christmas or... More »

At Chicago's Field, 'Ancient Americas' Exhibit a Bust

Museum 'patronizes, demeans' its subjects

(Newser) - Revisiting Chicago’s Field Museum—an institution enshrined in loving childhood memories—for its “The Ancient Americas” exhibit is a sore disappointment, PJ O’Rourke writes in the Weekly Standard. Once a bastion of public scholarship so solemn it contained a section devoted to useful varieties of wood, the... More »

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