Christopher Columbus and Hiroshima in One Week

Well, another week has gone by according to my calendar. School starts soon and hopefully the students will be interested in history. Two historical events happened this week: Thursday was the 525 anniversary of Christopher Columbus setting sail from Spain and today is the 72 anniversary of dropping the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. The anniversary of the Nagasaki bomb drop is this week and end of World War II comes next week. I believe all would agree these are big events in history. However, history doesn’t write itself.

It took Columbus over two months to reach the Bahamas. Can you imagine a two-month cruise in a small wooden boat? Granted the carrack (Santa Maria) and the caravels (Nina and Pinta) were large boats, but compared to today’s cruise lines, they look like a dingy. I saw a replica of one of them in Fort Smith, Arkansas a few years ago and was surprised at how small the ships were. The Santa Maria had a crew of forty. These three ships made an incredible journey that changed the world.

The Enola Gay, a B-29, dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. Taking off from North Field, Tinian, the crew flew six hours before reaching Hiroshima. The bomb dropped at 8:15 in the morning. After dropping the weapon, the Enola Gay stayed in the area but still felt the shockwave from the blast at eleven and a half miles away. Up to 80,000 people died when the explosion occurred. A blast that changed the world.

Many more historical events happened in early August, but I chose these two for you to ponder this week. What will you discover about history this week? It doesn’t write itself, you know.

* * *

What I’m Reading – Many readers I know like to inquire what their favorite author is reading. At the end of each blog post, I’ll let you know what book I have my nose in. I may not be a published author yet, but I hope my choice of reading material inspires you to read. I’m reading The Prophecy Con by Patrick Weeks.  I encourage you to read a variety of topics.