On this actual date in 1492, Christopher Columbus beached a boat and made history.

Of course, history also records that Columbus died without ever really knowing what he discovered. Also, it’s hard to say Columbus discovered anything because there were already people here. Too, seafarers had been traveling from their home continents to North America and South America for centuries, just not on official business.

Charlie Mitchell is executive editor of The Vicksburg Post. Write to him at Box 821668, Vicksburg, MS 39182, or e-mail.

Nonetheless, today is Columbus Day and a lot of people have a paid holiday because of it, so here’s a quiz. Some questions are serious. Others not so much.

1. On his first trip to the new land, Columbus had three ships. How many were on his second?

A. Three.

B. Five.

C. 10.

D. 17.

2. Columbus was a native of:

A. Italy.

B. Portugal.

C. Spain.

D. No one really knows.

3. Earlier in his seafaring career, Columbus had worked as a:

A. Deckhand.

B. Pirate.

C. Dance host.

D. Sailmaker.

4. Columbus died in 1506 and is buried in:

A. The Old World.

B. The New World.

C. Bits in both.

D. At sea.

5. Columbus never set foot in any of the United States. This statement is:

A. True, but that could change.

B. False, but that could change.

C. Depends on what you mean by “never.”

D. Depends on what you mean by “foot.”

6. What group “assisted” both Barack Obama and Columbus.

A. Arabs.

B. Royalty.

C. Democrats.

D. Community Organizers.

7. America is called America and not Columbia because:

A. Higher placement in the alphabetical listing of nations was desired.

B. Mapmaker Amerigo Vespucci signed his name on a globe and someone later thought Amerigo’s name was the land’s name.

C. Vespucci had a better publicist.

D. It’s named for Richard Amerike, a British man who paid for John Cabot’s fishing expeditions to our Atlantic coast in 1497.

Answers:

1. D. The the goal was gold on the second trip. Little was found, but they had room for a lot.

2. D. No one knows. There are arguments for all three.

3. B. Columbus went to sea at 15 and, though unproven, there’s a belief he spent some time as a corsair, which is what pirates were called before the “yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum” days.

4. C. Columbus was 55 when he died. He was buried and reinterred at least twice, and on two continents.

5. A or B. Records of his four voyages make clear that none of today’s 50 states bore his footprint. He did stop at what’s now Puerto Rico, which may become a state and change the answer.

6. A. When Ferdinand and Isabella agreed to pay for the first voyage of Columbus, it was to try to find an ocean route to India, Japan and China for trade. There was already a land route. The Spanish rulers might not have assisted Columbus except that bandits in the Middle East routinely pillaged land caravans. When Barack Obama first announced his candidacy, his pledges to resolve today’s wars in Iraq and Afghanistan — where those caravans were being robbed in the 1400s — resonated with strident antiwar voters who boosted him through the early primaries and eventually distinguished him from his rival, Hillary Clinton, the person everyone assumed would be her party’s nominee, but wasn’t. Trouble with Arabs helped Chris and Barack.

7. A toss-up. It’s not known for sure.

That’s the wonderful thing about lots of history. It’s full of certainty, kind of.