Hocus Pocus Dominocus

Later tonight, and possibly into the wee hours of Thursday evening, depending on where you live, don’t be surprised if the Moon as you know it looks a little "tired" or suddenly turns the color of blood red.

Christopher Columbus | foto: Profimedia.cz

While it won’t make a repeat performance like this for another four years, centuries ago, a blood red eclipse was used to play a decisive role in history.

Christopher Columbus
In the year 1504, famed Spanish Explorer Christopher Columbus was engaged in doing what he did best, trekking through new territory exploring the New World.

As was inherent in his profession, Columbus always ran chronically short of supplies and had to subsist off of his nearby surroundings.

With his men frequently having to fend for themselves, conditions were often brutal.

Columbus often sought to engage in trade where he possibly could, but his terms were not always fair.

Exploiting advanced knowledge
In February of 1504, Columbus learned from German Astronomers that an eclipse would occur.

Because they were able to predict it, Columbus eagerly absorbed this information and decided to use it to his advantage in his attempts to secure supplies from nearby Indians.

Let’s "trade"
At first Columbus proposed a straightforward trade, but the native population was not really interested.

Keenly aware that Columbus needed them more than they needed him, they had no real interest in helping out if they could safely avoid it.

Columbus then professed to have "supernatural" powers and said he could even "command the Moon."

As Columbus carried out his act of hocus-pocus, the eclipse went through its gyrations as expected.

The Indians became afraid and loaded up whatever supplies Columbus asked for.

After he "brought the Moon back to life," they gladly sent him on his way.

This true story is somewhat ironic, because many people in Europe during the time of Christopher Columbus believed that the world was flat instead of round.

Proving that our planet was in fact a sphere on which we all lived was one of the reasons Columbus sailed around the world and advanced the science of exploration.

. Do You Know This?

Here are some facts which most people don’t know. When you want to impress the easily impressionable, they may help you:

1. There are 32 muscles in the average cat’s ear.

2. Sir Winston Churchill’s childbirth was unexpected, he was born in a woman’s bathroom during a dance.

3. Science has proven that the goldfish has an attention span that lasts for about three seconds. The same is true with many men.

4. Mosquitoes transmit diseases and infect as many as 700 million people every year.

Statistically, about one 1 in every 17 people are affected by the actions of mosquitoes.

4. A snail sleeps for as long as three years and is never in a hurry to wake up.

 

Angličtina vychází od pondělí do pátku.

Najdete ji také v bezplatném deníku Metropolitní expres.

Kalovi pište na adresu: [e-mail]