Did you know that the discovery of America might have happened completely differently, if not for a Jew?

No, this has nothing to do with those persistent and ridiculous Columbus Jewish rumors; we dealt with those years ago. This is about Abraham Zacuto: mathematician, astrologer, rabbi(!), historian, royal astronomer to King Joao II of Portugal.

Zacuto's biggest contribution was the invention of a new type of astrolabe, which allowed navigators to calculate latitude at sea more precisely. Zacuto's consultations and astronomical charts were referred by the likes of Vasca da Gama, and, yes, Columbus.

Imagine if Columbus did not consult Zacuto's accurate calculations. Who knows where he would have ended up? Maybe, instead of the Caribbean, he would have first hit South America... or maybe even landed in what later became the United States? One can imagine that the entire history of two continents would have been altered.

As for Zacuto, soon the Portuguese decided to kick Jews out of the country, so that was that.

Of course, the age of discovery was the last time Portugal was relevant on the world's stage, and we wouldn't call that a coincidence...