The "Discovery" of India - May 20th, 1498

I just happened to figure out that India today was "discovered" by the western world...
Portuguese Vasco da Gama(pictured) arrived at Caliut(Now Kozhikode), India, opening up trade with the Far East... directly by sea.

Vasco da Gama

Actually, India has long had trade links with the entire world... The turks had closed the sea route which passed through Constantinople and the west was left looking for an alternative... So they "sponsored" da Gama for his exploratory voyage... Something they continue to do even today... Just carefully consider the "war on terror" (These are entirely my views, if anybody has a problem with it, they may stop reading it right away!!)

Gama's voyage was successful in reaching India. This permitted the Portuguese to trade with the Far East directly by sea, thus challenging older trading networks of mixed land and sea routes, such as the Spice trade routes that utilized the Persian Gulf and Red Sea and caravans to reach the eastern Mediterranean. The Republic of Venice had gained control over much of the trade routes between Europe and Asia. Portugal hoped to use the route pioneered by Gama to break the Venetian trading monopoly.

However, Gama's achievements were somewhat dimmed by his failure to bring any trade goods of interest to the nations of India. Moreover, the sea route was fraught with its own perils - his fleet went more than three months without seeing land and he lost majority of his sailor-crew, by the time the two of his four ships, returned to Portugal in 1499. Nevertheless, Gama's initial journey opened direct sea route to Asia that in time helped bring about an era of European domination through sea power and commerce that lasted several hundred years, as well as 450 years of Portuguese colonialism in India, Asia, and Africa.

HAIL INDIA!!!!

ps: Full credit to wikipedia for giving me most of the info I needed to create a good-looking post in 7 minutes.... Long live open-source..... Down-Down Plagiarism!!!! ;)

Coincidentally, on the same date in 1873, The Levi Struass & Co. (remember that denim brand??) got a patent for using copper rivets that we see on every denim trouser's pockets.....