2. The Night that Changed the World
“The night of October 11-12 was
one big with destiny for the
human race, the most
momentous ever experienced
aboard any ship in any sea.”
Samuel Eliot Morrison
3. The Discovery
As the sun sank below the western horizon of the
Atlantic Ocean on the evening of October 11,
1492, it left three small wooden ships surrounded
by the gathering darkness. The ships were
located at latitude of 24 degrees, slightly south of
Key West, Florida, and a longitude of about 73
degrees, about 3500 miles west of the Canary
Islands. In all of recorded history, there was no
known record of any ships sailing so far from
land, certainly not in the broad Atlantic.
4. The Discovery
The two smaller ships, the Niña and the Pinta, were
captained respectively by Vicente Yáñez Pinzón and
Martin Alonso Pinzón, two brothers from Sevilla Spain
who were experienced captains. The third and largest
of the ships, sometimes known as La Gallega (having
been constructed in Galicia) but named the Santa
Maria by her devout captain, was under the command
of a 45-year old Genoese seaman who used the Spanish
version of his name, Cristóbal Colón. In English
speaking countries he was – and is – known as
Christopher Columbus.
5. The Discovery
As darkness set in, the ships were at full sail in gale force
winds, traveling due west at about 9 knots. Their last
landfall was 35 days before, as they sailed from San
Sebastian in the Canary Islands where they had repaired a
damaged rudder on the Niña. The voyage had already
become the longest known journey through open ocean.
About 10:00 o’clock in the evening, an hour before
moonrise, Columbus was standing on the sterncastle of the
Santa Maria, scanning the dark horizon, when he thought
he saw a faint light in the distance. Not certain in the
darkness if it might be land, he did not inform his crew, but
he mentioned it to an aide, Pedro Gutierrez, who thought
he saw it too. The little fleet continued to sail due west
under full sail.
6. The Discovery
At 2:00 a.m. on October 12, Rodrigo Triana, a 23-year old
sailor from Sevilla, was atop the lookout on the Pinta. In the
light of the moon, he saw “something like a white sand cliff
gleaming in the moonlight on the western horizon, then
another, and a dark line of land connecting them.”
Recognizing land, he cried out to the deck below, “Tierra!
Tierra!”
In that moment the world changed. One era – an era that
covered nearly 4 millennia of recorded history – ended, and a
new era began. The known world, which had consisted of
Europe, Africa, and Asia, expanded to include a New World
previously unknown, and the discovery would arguably have a
more profound impact on the world than any discovery
before or since. In the dim light of the moon on that fateful
morning of October 12, 1492, Rodrigo Triana saw not just a
slip of land on the horizon, but the dawn of a new age.
7. The Discoverer
Self-educated Genoese
By about the age of 30, began to
develop a passion to sail west to the
Indies
At age 33 widowed, left with 4-year
old son, in debt
Denied by three royal commissions
(one Portuguese, two Castilian)
The best scholars of the court
concluded that the proposal was
unsound, based on errors, and
foolishness
8. The Voyage
3 Aug – Sail from Palos
6 Sep – Sail from San
Sebastian
9. The Voyage
3 Aug – Sail from Palos
6 Sep – Sail from San
Sebastian
9-10 Oct - Crises
“The inevitable conflict between a man of one great, compelling idea
and those who did not share it in anything like the same degree…
Their issue with their commander was the eternal one between
imagination and doubt, between the spirit that creates and the sprit
that denies… There are tides in the affairs of men, and this was one of
them.”
- Samuel Eliot Morrison
10. The Prophecy
“And I looked and beheld a man among
the Gentiles, who was separated from
the seed of my brethren by the many
waters; and I beheld the Spirit of God,
that it came down and wrought upon the
man; and he went forth upon the many
waters, even unto the seed of my
brethren, who were in the promised
land.”
- 1 Nephi 13:12
11. The Prophecy
“And I looked and beheld a man among
the Gentiles, who was separated from
the seed of my brethren by the many
waters; and I beheld the Spirit of
God, that it came down and wrought
upon the man; and he went forth upon
the many waters, even unto the seed of
my brethren, who were in the promised
land.”
- 1 Nephi 13:12
12. The Prophecy
“And I looked and beheld a man among
the Gentiles, who was separated from
the seed of my brethren by the many
waters; and I beheld the Spirit of God,
that it came down and wrought upon the
man; and he went forth upon the many
waters, even unto the seed of my
brethren, who were in the promised
land.”
- 1 Nephi 13:12
13. The Testimony of Columbus
“All who found out about my project
denounced it with laughter and ridiculed me.
All the sciences which I mentioned above
were of no use to me. Quotations of learned
opinions were no help.”
14. The Testimony of Columbus
“With a hand that could be felt, the Lord
opened my mind to the fact that it would be
possible to sail from here to the Indies, and he
opened my will to desire to accomplish the
project. This was the fire that burned within
me when I came to visit Your Highnesses.
Who can doubt that this fire was not merely
mine, but also of the Holy Spirit who
encouraged me …urging me to press forward?”
15. The Testimony of Columbus
“I prayed to the most merciful Lord
concerning my desire, and he gave me the
spirit and the intelligence for it. He gave me
abundant skill in the mariner’s arts, an
adequate understanding of the stars, and of
geometry and arithmetic. He gave me the
mental capacity and manual skill to draft
spherical maps, and to draw the cities, rivers,
mountains, islands and ports, all in their
proper places.”
16. The Testimony of Columbus
“The Lord purposed that there should be
something clearly miraculous in this matter of
the voyage to the Indies…
“I spent seven years here in your royal court
discussing this subject with the leading
persons in all the learned arts, and their
conclusion was that all was in vain. That was
the end, and they gave it up.
“But afterwards it all turned out just as our
redeemer Jesus Christ had said, and as he had
spoken earlier by the mouth of his holy
prophets.”
17. The Testimony of Columbus
“I was not aided by intelligence, by
mathematics or by maps. It was simply the
fulfillment of what Isaiah had prophesied…
“Much of the prophecies remain to be
fulfilled, and I believe that these are great
events for the world. I believe that there is
evidence that our Lord is hastening these
things. This evidence is the fact that the
Gospel must now be proclaimed to so many
lands in such a short time.”
18. Modern Prophecy
“What I the Lord have spoken, I have
spoken, and I excuse not myself; and
though the heavens and the earth pass
away, my word shall not pass away, but
shall all be fulfilled, whether by mine
own voice or by the voice of
my servants, it is the same.”
D y C 1:38
19. The Testimony of Columbus
“Peter stepped out upon the water, and to the
extent that his faith remained firm, he walked
upon it. Whoever finds so much faith as a
grain of mustard seed will be obeyed by the
mountains. Knock and it must be opened
unto you.
“No one should be afraid to undertake any
project in the name of our Savior, if it is a just
cause.”
