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The sad thing is it obscures the real issue people were bringing up with Columbus - they said the world was much larger than he thought so he would starve and die before getting to the indies.

They were right, too, as the size of the planet was pretty accurately known. He just lucked out that someone had left a continent for him to run into.

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Didn't he also never reached the continent, just some islands, which then were used as a starting point for more expeditions?

No, he definitely reached Central and South America. But even until his death he had insisted he had reached the East Indies.

Ah, according to Wikipedia, he only reached the continent on his third and fourth voyage. On his first two expeditions, he was only cruising around the Bahamas, Cuba, etc.

I think I recall that his grants from the Spanish crown (and part of his fame) were tied to him having made it to the East Indies. So there would have been motivation for him to stick with his stories.

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