“What if Columbus had returned to Spain and told no one about what he found, the route to India blocked. Then Cabral later finds Brazil and reports to Portugal about his find, unleashing a wave of exploration of the New World.
Could Columbus then say....ME TOO! ME TOO! and have a real claim on discovery?”
I read once that Columbus deserved recognition. Others may have contributed first. But he put together the elements, money, science, entrepreneurship etc.
The article said he had information including Eriksson’s voyage, other explorers further south, various wind and ocean current streams, etc.
It was the assemblage of all those factors, that make Columbus worthy of recognition.
The topic of great explorations over vast oceans is fascinating. The South Pacific Islanders going to Hawaii. The Polynesians possibly going to South America. (Thor Herydall). The Chinese possibly going to South America. Irish monks going to North America. Even Egyptians (or others from the old world Mediterranean) going to the Americas.
Etc.
Ever read THEY ALL DISCOVERED AMERICA published back around 1960?
Then there was a Reader’s Digest article back around 1970 in which they claimed the possibility of Phoenicians also discovering America.