Though the secret hearings started with the intention of cutting through the red tape of bureaucracy, Britain's Court of Star Chamber proceeded to usurp power.It became a political weapon for auditing, intimidating and punishing opponents to the King's policies, similar to modern-day IRS audits or partisan secret special counsel investigations.
Beginning in 1492, Christopher Columbus took FOUR VOYAGES to the New World:1ST VOYAGE (1492-1493), he DISCOVERED land; 2ND VOYAGE (1493-1496), he encountered a hurricane, malaria, and CANNIBALS; 3RD VOYAGE (1498-1500), he faced doldrums, rebellion, and was ARRESTED; 4TH VOYAGE (1502-1504), he survived another hurricane, explored Panama, and was SHIPWRECKED on Jamaica for a year.
W.L. Grant continued in the introduction of The Voyages and Explorations of Samuel de Champlain (1911, The Courier Press, A.S. Barnes Co.): "In the search for these were made the three greatest voyages in history, those of Columbus, of Vasco da Gama, and greatest of all of Magellan. In his search for the riches of Cipangu, Columbus stumbled upon America. The great Genoese lived and died under the illusion that he had reached the outmost verge of Asia; and though even in his lifetime men realized that what he had found was no less than a new world."
All those blaming Columbus for sailing west must turn one chapter back in the history books to find that it was actually Islamic jihad disrupting the land routes from Europe to India and China that resulted in Columbus looking for a sea route.
Islamic expansion was instrumental in bringing about "The Dark Ages" with the conquering of Egypt and cutting off trade across the Mediterranean, including that of papyrus; and Islamic expansion was instrumental in "The Renaissance" with the invasion of Greece, causing scholars to flee to Italy.
