Through it all, Columbus did not deviate from his westerly course. At 10 p.m. on October 11, vesper prayers still fresh on his mind, Columbus spied a light bobbing in the distance.

But there's no doubt that Columbus' voyages "had an undeniable historical impact, sparking the great age of Atlantic exploration, trade and eventually colonization by Europeans," Perry wrote.

Everybody knows Columbus sailed the ocean blue in 1492. But years later, in 1500, he would make an even more precarious voyage. Stripped of his title, accused of heresy and theft, ...