Columbus and the Lunar Eclipse
Christopher Columbus on another journey to the new land of
Jamaica and found himself surrounded by hostile Indians in February 1504; he
was short of supplies and wanted to repair his ships to return home.
He knew that on February 29th 1504 there would be
an eclipse of the Moon, three days beforehand he told the Indian chiefs that
unless he was given supplies something very strange would happen to the Moon.
On the evening of the February 29th Columbus waited for the Moon to
appear in the sky and sure enough the eclipse started shortly afterwards. The Moon started turning a coppery red colour as it entered the shadow of the Earth. The
Indians were terrified that someone who knew that something so terrible could
happen to the Moon that he must be a ‘god’.
They pleaded with him to return the Moon he told them all in
good time and waited for the eclipse to end. Naturally he was given all the
supplies he wanted and safely returned home.
It’s amazing how astronomical knowledge can come in very
useful in the strangest of situations!
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