Two weeks ago I completed reading 1491: The Year Before Columbus Discovered America, by Charles Mann. It's a massive book, with much information about the North and South American continents, the Inca and Amazonian populations in particular, before the advent of the European. Some things I didn't know:
* There were more people in the largest Incan city than any of the cities of Europe in the 14th century.
* The Incans had discovered how to use iron also, but they used it for artistic purposes, rather than warfare production.
* When small pox and the plague came with the European influx, it decreased the native populations of the two continents very quickly.
I was born on Columbus day, 1960, and for years my family celebrated my birthday on the day school was out for the holiday. Now, old Chris is just another footnote...probably a good thing. He didn't really discover America anyway. Sort of like me claiming that I disovered my wife. She was living pretty happily before I showed up on the scene and spoiled her fun.
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