Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class from how Stuff Works dot com. Hello and welcome to the podcast. I am editor Candice Gipson, joined as always by staff writer Joshua M clark. Hiere, josh, what's on your mind? But burning questions? Do you have for me today? Well? You know, um, let me give a little leading. First of all, you don't pressure me here, Sorry about that. I'd like to get to the point. I know you do. I know you do. I loved to meander and say a lot. Have you noticed I don't know if you've noticed. I like to say indeed, yes, I like to say agreed, aren't we special? Well, anyway, as you know, I wrote How Cannibalism Works recently, and one of the points in the article was about Columbus saying that he'd, you know, come across cannibals well, when he made a land in in the Caribbean, um, and he met some a wax speaking people and supposedly another tribe that may or may not have actually existed. The Caribs were um cannibals supposedly right, um. And the whole thing kind of reminded me of this. I'm kind of irked. Let me. Just put it this way, I'm kind of irked that we have Columbus Day, that this one person is celebrated for discovering America when actually, you know, Columbus may have been the first European to come across America, but clearly there were people already living there, at least the aarra Wax, if not more people, and there were more people. Do you know about the Clovis people? Oh? You do? Huh? I do. Supposedly they took a land bridge and meandered all the way down from up in the Alaska region, Is that right? Yeah, that's well, that's one theory. They may have also come from South America and gone north. We're not entirely certain. But we do know is that you know these that humans have been in North America at least for eleven thousand, five hundred years, if not, if not longer. And being a very empirical people, we expect that the scholars and scientists and anthropologists who purport these theories of America's first discover what have you, produce tangible evidence of their presence. And that's one of the things that UM elevates. The Clovis and the fact that they could have been the first Americans. And that's that they left behind little arrowheads. Know that they were there. That's how they're that's how they're known. And they can just pop up out of nowhere and then disappear out of nowhere. There their arrowheads turned up in the fossil record and then disappear again. Um. And they're very mysterious. But there, I guess we know that Clovis were the first people, but which way they came from is in dispute. So you know there were already American Indians here when when Columbus arrived? Um? And I think the thing that that excites my ires that you know, people say Columbus discovered America when actually Columbus may have been the first European to come across the New World, but even then he was only the first European to go to Central America. When you're talking North America, you have to say that it was Cabodo, an Italian explorer, who actually was the first European to make land in North America. Did you know that you did? Okay, so you could say it was Cabodo who was the first European to discover North America. But that's wrong as well. Actually, the first Europeans to discover North America were the Vikings. Did you know that? Is that fact? That's a fact, isn't it. I don't know that. I entirely agree with you. Oh yeah, well who was here before the Vikings? Then? Actually, Josh, some scholars believe that there was a seafaring monk from Ireland who made it before the Vikings. I'm not sure that your Viking theory is all that fact to all. Well, okay, the Vikings left evidence behind um at a place in uh in Canada, and I think Nova scotiould call what lawnzo meadow. I think your your French accent is much better than mine, right, is that right? Yeah? Okay? Good? Um? And that was about one thousand C right. So when would this monk have come. He supposedly came in the sixth century, and he was a rather ambitious monk. His name was St. Brendan, and he decided one day that he was going to go fine the Promised Land, the sort of exciting special place that monks knew existed, and his paradise on Earth. And um, after seven years he found it. He found this land of it was vastly full of landforms and gems and fruits. There were rivers and volcanoes, and it was such a massive piece of land that after walking across it for forty days, they still weren't the other end of it yet. Okay, So, but I mean this could have been anywhere, right, Yeah, it could have, except that marine biologist in the nineteen eighties found petroglyphs in West Virginia. The head Oh, I'm sorry, they're rock carvings. He found these rock carvings inscribed with a type of ancient Irish writing, and when he translated it, according to his interpretation, it was a story as an activity. What I know, I know. So who else but a seafaring Irish monk, deeply penitent and religious would have carved into a rock the story of the Nativity. Okay, so then that's it. That's the Irish monk beat the vikings when it wasn't everybody know this well, because a lot of people are unsure if the accounts are really true. He wrote a book, He wrote a treaty about his travels. The Irish Monk did the travels of St. Brendan. And when people rediscovered this book and the ninth century, they thought quite frankly, it was sort of faction. You know. There were stuff that was pretty straightforward, like the river is this long and wide according to my eyes, But there were other more fantastical detail like, um, he delivered communion on the back of a whale. Yeah, I guess it could happen. Yeah, if the whale was very willing. Yeah, the well would have had to holl Is pretty still for communion. But because it was so deeply infused with biblical references and allegories, people were less inclined to believe it, because again, it wasn't just empirical data. It told the story of a religious experience. But as far as the Vikings being in America, first, apparently there were reports that when American Indians saw the Vikings it was sort of old hat did down. They're like, yes, you're white. We have seen people if you're kind before and must have been the Irish. Apparently these people could speak languages. It sounded pretty similar to Irish. We would the Vikings have recognized the Irish language? They would have. They certainly would have because they lived in close proximity to the Irish precisely precisely, but where a lot of people take real issue with. The story is not necessarily about religion at about technology. They asked, how could an Irish monk have built seacraft that would have withstood the rough waters of the seas to make it all the way to North America. The Vikings were, you know, the earliest explorers. By all accounts, they had like shipbuilding down and as far as I know, nobody really had an ocean going vessel up to that point before the Vikings. So, I mean, how could an Irish monk have gotten to North America. It's a pretty long voyage, right it is. And not to confuse the matter too much, I was sort of reminded of an argument and another article that I researched and wrote about the Easter Islanders. And these were essentially Polynesians who fashioned very simple, dugout wooden boats. And there are two theories behind the Easter Islanders. Either they came from the tip of South America or they came from Micronesia to settle Easter Island. Either way, it's a really, really long way away. If they came from the tip of South America, we're talking approximately two thousand, two d ninety miles. They came from Polynesia. We're talking about a thousand miles and this was about two centuries before St. Brendan. So again I don't know if this is a relevant point or not, because it's not as though the Easter Islanders would have been in touch with them. They weren't exactly pen pals, but people were thinking up seafaring technology. What's more, when they traveled, it was during the midst of what was an Elmino like weather pattern, so they weren't, you know, sailing the Placid seas. They were up against really rough winds and rainstorm and St. Brendan ship would have been a little bit more complex, supposedly was you know, it was a wooden frame that it was covered in ox hide and waterproofed with tar, so it would have been a little bit more stable than these people sea craft. And then there was a guy back in six to Severn who decided he was going to try to recreate the journey to see if a would be done in a very primitive seacraft. Did he make it? He did? He did. He did in the same kind of boat that St. Brendan supposedly, so it is theoretically possible that an Irish monk did make it to America. It certainly is. That is fascinating. I know, I know, and I have one more fascinating tidbid for you. What tell me? To be honest? I don't know how do you see this is? But I'm part Irish. Um, I'm no second cousin to Roma Downey, but my grandmother's maiden name was O'Brien, and I have a fiery temper to prove it well. At least do you answer whether or not it was the Vikings who were the first to discover America. First European said is so thanks for that? You are very welcome, And if you want to clear it up even more, you can read was an Irish monk the first European to find America? On how stuff works dot com for more on this and thousands of other topics. Is it how stuff works dot com. Let us know what you think. Send an email to podcast at how stuff works dot com.

Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class from how Stuff Works dot com. Hello and welcome to the podcast. I am editor Candice Gipson, joined as always by staff writer Joshua M clark. Hiere, josh, what's on your mind? But burning questions? Do you have for me today? Well? You know, um, let me give a little leading. First of all, you don't pressure me here, Sorry about that. I'd like to get to the point. I know you do. I know you do. I loved to meander and say a lot. Have you noticed I don't know if you've noticed. I like to say indeed, yes, I like to say agreed, aren't we special? Well, anyway, as you know, I wrote How Cannibalism Works recently, and one of the points in the article was about Columbus saying that he'd, you know, come across cannibals well, when he made a land in in the Caribbean, um, and he met some a wax speaking people and supposedly another tribe that may or may not have actually existed. The Caribs were um cannibals supposedly right, um. And the whole thing kind of reminded me of this. I'm kind of irked. Let me. Just put it this way, I'm kind of irked that we have Columbus Day, that this one person is celebrated for discovering America when actually, you know, Columbus may have been the first European to come across America, but clearly there were people already living there, at least the aarra Wax, if not more people, and there were more people. Do you know about the Clovis people? Oh? You do? Huh? I do. Supposedly they took a land bridge and meandered all the way down from up in the Alaska region, Is that right? Yeah, that's well, that's one theory. They may have also come from South America and gone north. We're not entirely certain. But we do know is that you know these that humans have been in North America at least for eleven thousand, five hundred years, if not, if not longer. And being a very empirical people, we expect that the scholars and scientists and anthropologists who purport these theories of America's first discover what have you, produce tangible evidence of their presence. And that's one of the things that UM elevates. The Clovis and the fact that they could have been the first Americans. And that's that they left behind little arrowheads. Know that they were there. That's how they're that's how they're known. And they can just pop up out of nowhere and then disappear out of nowhere. There their arrowheads turned up in the fossil record and then disappear again. Um. And they're very mysterious. But there, I guess we know that Clovis were the first people, but which way they came from is in dispute. So you know there were already American Indians here when when Columbus arrived? Um? And I think the thing that that excites my ires that you know, people say Columbus discovered America when actually Columbus may have been the first European to come across the New World, but even then he was only the first European to go to Central America. When you're talking North America, you have to say that it was Cabodo, an Italian explorer, who actually was the first European to make land in North America. Did you know that you did? Okay, so you could say it was Cabodo who was the first European to discover North America. But that's wrong as well. Actually, the first Europeans to discover North America were the Vikings. Did you know that? Is that fact? That's a fact, isn't it. I don't know that. I entirely agree with you. Oh yeah, well who was here before the Vikings? Then? Actually, Josh, some scholars believe that there was a seafaring monk from Ireland who made it before the Vikings. I'm not sure that your Viking theory is all that fact to all. Well, okay, the Vikings left evidence behind um at a place in uh in Canada, and I think Nova scotiould call what lawnzo meadow. I think your your French accent is much better than mine, right, is that right? Yeah? Okay? Good? Um? And that was about one thousand C right. So when would this monk have come. He supposedly came in the sixth century, and he was a rather ambitious monk. His name was St. Brendan, and he decided one day that he was going to go fine the Promised Land, the sort of exciting special place that monks knew existed, and his paradise on Earth. And um, after seven years he found it. He found this land of it was vastly full of landforms and gems and fruits. There were rivers and volcanoes, and it was such a massive piece of land that after walking across it for forty days, they still weren't the other end of it yet. Okay, So, but I mean this could have been anywhere, right, Yeah, it could have, except that marine biologist in the nineteen eighties found petroglyphs in West Virginia. The head Oh, I'm sorry, they're rock carvings. He found these rock carvings inscribed with a type of ancient Irish writing, and when he translated it, according to his interpretation, it was a story as an activity. What I know, I know. So who else but a seafaring Irish monk, deeply penitent and religious would have carved into a rock the story of the Nativity. Okay, so then that's it. That's the Irish monk beat the vikings when it wasn't everybody know this well, because a lot of people are unsure if the accounts are really true. He wrote a book, He wrote a treaty about his travels. The Irish Monk did the travels of St. Brendan. And when people rediscovered this book and the ninth century, they thought quite frankly, it was sort of faction. You know. There were stuff that was pretty straightforward, like the river is this long and wide according to my eyes, But there were other more fantastical detail like, um, he delivered communion on the back of a whale. Yeah, I guess it could happen. Yeah, if the whale was very willing. Yeah, the well would have had to holl Is pretty still for communion. But because it was so deeply infused with biblical references and allegories, people were less inclined to believe it, because again, it wasn't just empirical data. It told the story of a religious experience. But as far as the Vikings being in America, first, apparently there were reports that when American Indians saw the Vikings it was sort of old hat did down. They're like, yes, you're white. We have seen people if you're kind before and must have been the Irish. Apparently these people could speak languages. It sounded pretty similar to Irish. We would the Vikings have recognized the Irish language? They would have. They certainly would have because they lived in close proximity to the Irish precisely precisely, but where a lot of people take real issue with. The story is not necessarily about religion at about technology. They asked, how could an Irish monk have built seacraft that would have withstood the rough waters of the seas to make it all the way to North America. The Vikings were, you know, the earliest explorers. By all accounts, they had like shipbuilding down and as far as I know, nobody really had an ocean going vessel up to that point before the Vikings. So, I mean, how could an Irish monk have gotten to North America. It's a pretty long voyage, right it is. And not to confuse the matter too much, I was sort of reminded of an argument and another article that I researched and wrote about the Easter Islanders. And these were essentially Polynesians who fashioned very simple, dugout wooden boats. And there are two theories behind the Easter Islanders. Either they came from the tip of South America or they came from Micronesia to settle Easter Island. Either way, it's a really, really long way away. If they came from the tip of South America, we're talking approximately two thousand, two d ninety miles. They came from Polynesia. We're talking about a thousand miles and this was about two centuries before St. Brendan. So again I don't know if this is a relevant point or not, because it's not as though the Easter Islanders would have been in touch with them. They weren't exactly pen pals, but people were thinking up seafaring technology. What's more, when they traveled, it was during the midst of what was an Elmino like weather pattern, so they weren't, you know, sailing the Placid seas. They were up against really rough winds and rainstorm and St. Brendan ship would have been a little bit more complex, supposedly was you know, it was a wooden frame that it was covered in ox hide and waterproofed with tar, so it would have been a little bit more stable than these people sea craft. And then there was a guy back in six to Severn who decided he was going to try to recreate the journey to see if a would be done in a very primitive seacraft. Did he make it? He did? He did. He did in the same kind of boat that St. Brendan supposedly, so it is theoretically possible that an Irish monk did make it to America. It certainly is. That is fascinating. I know, I know, and I have one more fascinating tidbid for you. What tell me? To be honest? I don't know how do you see this is? But I'm part Irish. Um, I'm no second cousin to Roma Downey, but my grandmother's maiden name was O'Brien, and I have a fiery temper to prove it well. At least do you answer whether or not it was the Vikings who were the first to discover America. First European said is so thanks for that? You are very welcome, And if you want to clear it up even more, you can read was an Irish monk the first European to find America? On how stuff works dot com for more on this and thousands of other topics. Is it how stuff works dot com. Let us know what you think. Send an email to podcast at how stuff works dot com.