The Lighter Side (Sep 2020)

Celebrating Columbus Day - October 12
 
It was 528 years ago, in 1492, that Christopher Columbus discovered the new world.
 
Columbus's enterprise to find a westward route to Asia grew out of his practical experience as well as his considerable reading in geographical and theological literature.  He settled for a time in Portugal, but was unable to enlist support for his project.  He moved to Spain, where, through a combination of good luck and persuasiveness, he gained the support of the Catholic monarchs, Isabel and Fernando.
 
The widely published report of his voyage of 1492 made Columbus famous throughout Europe and secured for him the title of Admiral of the Ocean Sea and further royal patronage. Columbus, who never abandoned the belief that he had reached Asia, led three more expeditions to the Caribbean.
 
He remains one of the most daring and successful mariners of all time.
 
Explorers Quiz (Answers at bottom – no peeking)

1. Which explorer is remembered for visiting the land of Cathay?
A. Marco Polo
B. Eric the Red
C. Richard Byrd
D. Francisco Pizarro
E. David Livingstone

2. What was the nationality of the explorers who conquered the Aztecs?

3. Which explorer traveled farthest?
A. Francis Drake
B. Neil Armstrong
C. Roald Amundsen
D. Meriwether Lewis
E. Ferdinand Magellan

4. Who were polar explorers?
A. Vasco da Gama & John Cabot
B. Robert Peary & Robert Scott
C. Jedediah Smith and John Muir
D. Francis Drake and Leif Ericson
E. David Livingstone & Henry Stanley

5. On Vasco da Gama's journey home from India, 30 of his 90 crewman died of what disease caused by a vitamin C deficiency?

6. Which anniversary of Columbus' discovery of the New World was celebrated in the same year that Bill Clinton was first elected president?
A. 100th
B. 300th
C. 500th
D. 700th
E. 900^th

7. Who circumnavigated the Earth?
A. Henry Hudson
B. Vasco de Balboa
C. Amerigo Vespucci
D. Francisco Pizarro
E. Ferdinand Magellan

8. What U.S. state is immediately to the east of a region once explored by Vitus Bering?

9. Which region was explored by William Clark and Meriwether Lewis?
A. eastern Ohio
B. the Southwest
C. the Great Lakes
D. the Oregon country
E. the Gulf of Mexico

10. Around 1000 A.D., they sailed from the British Isles to Greenland, and then on to Labrador, the Baffin Islands, and Newfoundland. There they established a colony named Vineland and from that base sailed along the coast of North America. Who were these people?

11. Whose explorations took him farthest to the south?
A. John Cabot
B. Henry Hudson
C. Ponce de Leon
D. Francisco Pizarro
E. Hernando de Soto

12. What did 16th century explorers not find in the New World?
A. cotton
B. tobacco
C. corn and maize
D. sweet potatoes
E. nutmeg and cloves
 
13. Richard Byrd is usually credited with having been the first person to fly over what particular spot on the Earth in an airplane?

14. When Christopher Columbus and his stalwart crew reached land in 1492, he thought he was in the ...
A. Azores
B. Bahamas
C. Falklands
D. East Indies
E. West Indies

15. Ponce de Leon searched throughout the region of Florida for a legendary fountain whose waters were supposed to bestow what blessing?

16. At the same time that Rome was flourishing, what people were making extended ocean voyages in outriggers?
A. Huns
B. Mayans
C. Algonkians
D. Polynesians
E. Babylonians

17. He was exploring the narrow strip of land that joins North and South America when he came upon a great body of water which he named the South Sea. What had Balboa discovered?

18. Whose explorations were mostly overland?
A. Marco Polo
B. James Cook
C. Leif Ericson
D. Vasco da Gama
E. Ferdinand Magellan

19. What was the general name for Spanish soldiers who captured land and people in the Americas?

20. Who was a 20th century explorer?
A. John Cabot
B. Vitus Bering
C. Roald Amundsen
D. Meriwether Lewis
E. Samuel de Champlain
 

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Answers to Explorers Quiz

1. A
2. Spanish
3. B
4. B
5. scurvy
6. C
7. E
8. Alaska
9. D
10. Vikings (Norsemen)
11. D
12. E
13. North Pole
14. D
15. youth
16. D
17. the Pacific Ocean
18. A
19. conquistadors
20. C