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Because he wanted to find a short and easy route to the East's spices and other treasures. But he badly miscalculated how long the trip would be. His Bible was a map that located the coast of China a little west of California and he added to the mistake made there by estimating the size of the globe (and so, the distance to that point) at 25% less than it really was. So he thought that it would be a 3,500 miles-long trip to China and India instead of the more than 22,000 miles it really was.

At the time, the true size and shape of the globe was exactly known, so it really was a stupid mistake by Columbus. It was even pointed out to him by Portuguese navigation experts, but he refused to believe them. In the end, it was pure luck that got him to bump into the Carribean islands before his provisions ran out.

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8y ago

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