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|August-September August–September 1451 <br/> [[Genoa]], [[Republic of Genoa]]

'''Christopher Columbus''' (1451–1506) was an [[Italian ]] explorer hired funded by [[Spain ]] to bypass the overland routes through [[Islam]] and reach [[Asia ]] by sea in 1491, but who landed in the [[Caribbean ]] instead. In four voyages, he explored the [[West Indies]] from 1492 to 1502. Although technically Possibly the second person [[European]] to discover the Americas after [[Leif Erikson]], but Columbus's discovery was the one that put [[America ]] on the map. His discovery of the Americas resulted in Europeans exploring and settling the Americas, and Columbus became both a symbol of the [[New World]] and an iconic hero for the age of exploration.

Columbus was a masterful navigator, as illustrated by how he returned on his second voyage across the [[Atlantic Ocean]] to the exact same spot where he left men and supplies on his first voyage. Michele de Cuneo declared that “since Genoa was Genoa there was never born a man so well equipped and expert in navigation as the said lord Admiral.”<ref>https://www.britannica.com/biography/Christopher-Columbus/The-second-and-third-voyages</ref> As [[conservative ]] historian Wilcomb Washburn explains, if Columbus had not discovered the New World, the process of European discovery might have been very different. Rather than standing as a symbol of inexorable forces, Columbus is better seen as a representative of the spirit of inquiry, [[Christian ]] religious zeal, and the notable achievements of Western Civilization.<ref>Wilcomb E. Washburn, "Columbus: Agent Of The Inevitable?" ''Continuity'' 1992 (16): 57-63. 0277-1446</ref>

Thanks to the left-wing history book ''[[A People's History of the United States]]'' by communist [[Howard Zinn]], however, Columbus has been falsely demonized by anti-American scholars as being a slave-trader, a mass-murderer against Native Americans, and a man who, were he alive in the current age, would have been tried for crimes against humanity. As was common practice in his works, Zinn made this argument with misleading quotations of Columbus and over-reliance on sources of questionable objectivity. For example, he used the explorer's statement on first encountering the Arawaks, "They would make fine servants," to suggest Columbus intended from the start to enslave the natives, when in fact he was commenting on their docile nature and the apparent efforts of neighboring tribes to enslave them.<ref>Mary Grabar, ''Debunking Howard Zinn: Exposing the Fake History That Turned a Generation Against America'' (Washington, DC: Regnery, 2019), 11-12.</ref> ===Delusional Arabic version===Emir [[Shakib Arslan]] dwelled (at least early on) around the delusional story that the Arabs preceded Christopher Columbus, crossed the Atlantic Ocean and discovered America.<ref>Menashe Shaul, [https://www.news1.co.il/Archive/0024-D-89916-00.html The past belongs to the past], News1, 02/02/2014.<blockquote>Following Mahmoud Hamdi's new book Zakzouk (Zagzoog) [زقزوق‎‎] - directs his criticism mainly to the clerics who deal with the midrash and do not dare to break free from the shackles of conservatism, fanaticism and commitment to the past... Zakzouk mentions a story from the beginning of the 20th century about the Islamic thinker Shakib Arslan who met with the religious preacher Jamal al-Din al-Afghani. The conversation between them revolved around the delusional story that the Arabs preceded Christopher Columbus, crossed the Atlantic Ocean and discovered America. Alafjani said: "When the Arabs try to cover up their omissions and backwardness these days, they claim that their ancestors did this and that. And this is the problem. Instead of doing something to fulfill their ambitions, they cling to their past."</blockquote></ref>