What is the closest Christopher Columbus ever came to what is now United States soil?

edmund80

Judging from the maps of his voyages, it appears that he landed at Puerto Rico (San Juan Bautista) during his second voyage, which is a self-governing territory of the United States. "He continued to the Greater Antilles, and landed at Puerto Rico (San Juan Bautista) on November 19, 1493. The first skirmish between Americans and Europeans since the Vikings. took place when his men rescued two boys who had just been castrated by their captors." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voyages_of_Christopher_Columbus#Second_voyage http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puerto_Rico Also during that second voyage, he sighted the Virgin Islands chain. The US Virgin Islands include St. Croix, St. John and St. Thomas. "He also sighted the island chain of the Virgin Islands, which he named Santa Ursula y las Once Mil Virgines, and named the islands of Virgin Gorda, Tortola, and Peter Island (San Pedro)." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Virgin_Islands Dec 18 08, 11:07 PM

queproblema

Whether or not Puerto Rico may be considered "United States soil" is controversial. Quote: Puerto Rico, according to the U.S. Supreme Court's Insular Cases opinion, is “a territory appurtenant and belonging to the United States, but not a part of the United States.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puerto_Rico#Political_status If we disqualify Pto. Rico, I would say Cuba: "Columbus's [first] voyage landed him in northeastern Cuba...." http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/12/081209-columbus-cuba-archeology-missions.html Here's a map that shows how close Cuba is to Florida: http://maps.caribseek.com/caribbean-map.shtml Dec 19 08, 1:14 AM

star_gazer

Columbus, Ohio http://columbus.gov/ Dec 19 08, 11:07 PM

looney_tunes

According to this map, he sailed north from Cuba. The closest point to the US mainland appears to be on Long Island. (No, not THAT Long Island - he was still in the Caribbean.) http://www.google.com.au/imgres?imgurl=http://www.columbusnavigation.com/pictures/v1a.gif&imgrefurl=http://www.columbusnavigation.com/v1.shtml&h=430&w=734&sz=7&tbnid=yz3IwdlyRaWeKM::&tbnh=83&tbnw=141&prev=/images%3Fq%3DColumbus%2Bfirst%2Bvoyage&usg=__bGOF0gkXD5E2CvpGKoXPxYR3oP8=&sa=X&oi=image_result&resnum=4&ct=image&cd=1 Long Island is part of the Bahamas. From the map in the section "Geography and Climate" in this Wikipedia article, it appears to be about 500 miles from Florida. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bahamas Dec 20 08, 12:50 AM

queproblema

Great site, Looney; here's a shorter link: http://www.columbusnavigation.com/v1.shtml And here's a page from the same site offering a highly technical "proof" of landfall on Plana Cays, which is about 290 miles from Florida: http://www.columbusnavigation.com/shd2004.shtml http://www.longislandishere.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=53 Dec 20 08, 2:00 AM