Columbus crosses the Atlantic
Two worlds separated for 15,000 years meet again
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The voyage was not proof that the Earth is round; educated Europeans knew that perfectly well. What Columbus got wrong was the planet's circumference, and he would have starved had the Americas not been in the way. The landfall of 12 October 1492 began the permanent connection between the hemispheres. Within a century the indigenous population of the Americas fell by perhaps 90 per cent, overwhelmingly from diseases to which they had no immunity. No single event has changed the world's demography, ecology and economy faster.
For children
Columbus sailed west to find a shortcut to Asia, and believed to his death that he had found it. Instead he ran into two great continents Europeans did not know existed. The encounter had enormous consequences — most of all for the people already living there.
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Part of Terra Saga — the story of Earth on a timeline. terrasaga.org