【英语周报】2015-2016学年人教版选修九Unit 2备课资料：文章 Columbus.docVIP

Columbus HRISTOPHER COLUMBUS discovered America in 1492. At least that is what all elementary school children were always taught: In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue. Of course, Columbus never did discover North America, and the regions he did explore were already inhabited. He only discovered them from the viewpoint of the Europeans. Yet his first voyage did prove one thing for sure, that the earth was not only round, but that it was bigger than he had thought, Eratosthenes notwithstanding. One of the first known celebrations marking the discovery of the New World by Christopher Columbus was in 1792, when a ceremony organized by the Colombian Order was held in New York City honoring Christopher Columbus and the 300th anniversary of his landing in the Bahamas. Then, on October 12, 1866 the Italian population of New York organized the first celebration of the discovery of America. Three years later, in 1869 Italians in San Francisco celebrated October 12 calling it C-Day. To mark the 400th anniversary of Columbus voyage, in 1892, President Benjamin Harrison made a commemorative proclamation. But it was Colorado, in 1905, that became the first state to observe a Columbus Day. Since 1920 the day has been celebrated annually, and in 1937 President Franklin Roosevelt proclaimed every October 12 as Columbus Day. Thats where it remained until 1971 when Congress declared it a federal public holiday on the second Monday in October. Christopher Columbus (1451 - 1505) Columbus, the son of a wool merchant and weaver, was born in Genoa, Italy and went to sea at the age of 14. Following a shipwreck off the coast of Portugal in 1470, he swam ashore and settled in that country. Between 1477 and 1482 Columbus made merchant voyages as far away as Iceland and Guinea. But in 1484, his Enterprise of the Indies idea fell on deaf ears when he presented it to King John of Portugal. Shortly thereafter, he moved to Spain, where King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella became more intereste