How easy was it to get lost at sea back in the day? During Roman and Greek periods. Or how did Columbus stumble upon America without getting lost? Highly doubt he just set out in a straight direction. (lemmy.world)

submitted 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) by Patnou@lemmy.world to c/askhistorians@lemmy.world

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How did Columbus and his crew not give up after a while with no sight of land?

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[-] manxu@piefed.social 2 points 1 day ago

I think the deal was that hé got lucky. He calculated a much smaller earth but it worked out because he thought hé was going to sail to "India". Nobody knew there was a whole:ass continent in between. Which is why it's called the West Indies and we still have "Indians" in the American West

this post was submitted on 20 Jul 2026

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