• Nougat@kbin.social
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    11 months ago

    Absolutely right. Nobody really wanted to sponsor Columbus because they already knew how big the globe was, and that Columbus’ proposed expedition would run out of supplies before he got to east Asia by going west - because they were unaware of the Americas existing.

    The earliest globe that still exists was started in 1490, and finished in 1492, the very year that Columbus set sail. Columbus didn’t return to Spain until March 15, 1493.

    • jmcs@discuss.tchncs.de
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      11 months ago

      Exactly, the average educated estimate of that time was that Eurasia spanned 180º of longitude (which ended being surprisingly closer to the right value) and Columbus thought Asia was much bigger.