"An obscure, impoverished Genoese freelancer became the first European to sail to any part of the Americas since the Vikings had reached ‘Vinland’ five centuries earlier. He was certainly the first European to reach South America. He never fulfilled his dreams of travelling to India and China, or meeting the Khan, or becoming fabulously wealthy. He never saw any of the lands which later became the United States of America. No matter. The consequences of his discovery changed the world to a degree unrivalled by any admiral, general, warrior or king."
"...by crossing the Atlantic, Columbus became the only man in history to dramatically change the ecology of our planet. Land masses that had been torn asunder some 30 million years ago, when the proto-continent of Pangea split into isolated fragments, were now put in biological contact again."
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