May 1, 1893: The World’s Columbian Exposition

May 1, 1893: The World’s Columbian Exposition opens in Chicago, celebrating -- a year later -- the 400th Anniversary of Christopher Columbus' voyage to "The New World," the incorrectly celebrated "discovery of America."

The site was on the South Side, in Jackson Park, from 56th to 67th Street, from Stony Island Avenue to Lake Michigan. The centerpiece was an artificial lake that represented the Atlantic Ocean that Columbus crossed from August 3 to October 12, 1492. Around it were nearly 200 temporary buildings of neoclassical design, with (as most World's Fairs have) pavilions from countries and their colonies.

Among the surviving buildings is the Art Institute of Chicago, the foremost art museum in America outside New York City. Among the paintings on display is A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte by Georges Seurat. In the 1986 film Ferris Bueller's Day Off, the protagonists visit the museum, and Cameron Frye (played by Alan Ruck) stares at this painting intensely.

Among the others there are, in chronological order: An 1887 self-portrait by Vincent van Gogh, The Child's Bath by Mary Cassatt, At the Moulin Rouge by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, The Old Guitarist by Pablo Picasso, Water Lilies by Claude Monet, American Gothic by Grant Wood, and Nighthawks by Edward Hopper.

Over 27 million people attended from the May 1 opening until the October 30 closing, a record for any World's Fair, due in large part to Chicago already being America's rail center. As the Great Exhibition of 1851 became the announcement of Britain's Victorian era, this fair introduced to the world the idea of "American exceptionalism." It also inspired the "City Beautiful" movement that inspired such structures as New York's 42nd Street Public Library, Penn Station and Grand Central Terminal.

It also represented the city's comeback from the Great Fire of 1871, just as the Century of Progress Fair of 1933-34 represented America's rebound from the depth of the Great Depression. Other "comeback fairs" include the 1915 Pan-Pacific Exposition, San Francisco's comeback from its 1906 earthquake.

There are 4 6-pointed stars on Chicago's city flag, and 1 represents the Columbian Exposition, another the Century of Progress Fair. The others represent the Great Fire and the founding of Fort Dearborn in 1803.

The top blue bar represents Lake Michigan and the North Branch of the Chicago River, and the bottom blue bar represents the South Branch of the River and the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal. The 3 white background areas represent the North South and West Sides.

"Christopher Columbus" is the English name for the explorer, based on the Latin form, Christophorus Columbus. His name in the dialect of his hometown of Genoa, Italy was Cristoffa Corombo. He was born in 1451, became an accomplished sailor early, and, with the Ottoman Empire having made travel to the East problematic following the fall of Constantinople (now Istanbul, Turkey) in 1453, he wanted to find a way to reach the East by sailing West.

By this point, pretty much everybody already knew the world was round. What hardly anybody knew, including Columbus, was just how far a man would have to sail to reach the Far East from Europe; and that there were not one, but two continents in the way. He convinced Spain to fund his journey, and, on October 12, 1492, he arrived on what is now named San Salvador, an island of the Bahamas.

He made a total of 4 voyages to "the New World," but the closest he ever came to what is now American soil was Puerto Rico. He never set foot on what is now the U.S. mainland. He introduced slavery and smallpox to the Americas -- named for a different Italian sailor, Amerigo Vespucci, most of whose work was done in South America -- and went to his grave in 1506 still believing he had reached India. Hence, "Native Americans" were called "Indians."

The most familiar image of Columbus,

a posthumous (1519) painting by Sebastiano del Piombo,

although it might not be of Columbus.

Many places in the Americas are named for him, including the capital city of Ohio, Columbus; the capital city of South Carolina, Columbia; Columbus Circle, a major intersection in New York City; and the Columbia River in the Pacific Northwest, on which the city of Portland, Oregon stands. Columbus Day, a holiday honoring him, and Italian-Americans, is celebrated on the 2nd Monday in October, close to the "discovery" date of October 12.

But since it is known that the Vikings reached North America about 500 years earlier, and that there were already people on the North American continent, the idea that "Columbus discovered America" has been completely discredited. And there are many Italian-Americans worthy of a holiday, but Columbus himself is not worthy of it.

In a 2011 episode of the YouTube series Epic Rap Battles of History, "Nice" Peter Shukoff played Columbus, against "Epic" Lloyd Ahlquist as Star Trek character Captain James T. Kirk.

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May 1, 1893 was a Monday. Baseball's National League was the only pro sports league running at the time, and these 4 games were played:

* The New York Giants beat the Baltimore Orioles, 9-5 at the Polo Grounds.

* The Boston Beaneaters beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 3-2 at the Philadelphia Base Ball Grounds.

* The Washington Senators beat the Brooklyn Bridegrooms, 15-2 at Boundary Field in Washington.

* The St. Louis Browns beat the Louisville Colonels, 11-1 at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis.

* The Chicago Colts, the Cincinnati Reds, the Cleveland Spiders and the Pittsburgh Pirates were not scheduled.

The Orioles, the Spiders, the Colonels and the Senators were consolidated out of the NL after the 1899 season. 

The St. Louis Browns became the Cardinals in 1900, and the American League's St. Louis team took on the Browns name. The Chicago Colts became the Cubs in 1903. The Brooklyn Bridegrooms became the Dodgers in 1911. The Boston Beaneaters became the Braves in 1912.