I was wondering, how long the discovery of America be delayed. I don't really kniw that much about that topic. I know, people back then knew that the earth was round and knew its size, however they assumed that there were no other continents between Europe and Asia and because of this, were unwilling to grant Columbus the ships, crew and supplies for his expedition.
I also once heard that Columbus had actually made some errors and expected the distance to Asia to be shorter than it actually was.
What I'm asking is: Was Columbus alone with his idea to sail westwards to India? Were there others who would have tried in the same time period?
If there weren't, how long can such an expedition be delayed. Up until the 18ht, 19th, hell, 20th century?
Going into ASB territory: Would it be possible to discover the Americas via satellite pictures and then send ships there? (Okay, I seriously doubt that)
And when pushing back the discovery date of the Americas, what consequences does that have for the OTL colonizing powers of the Americas? Will Britain, Spain, Portugal, etc invest more money into colonizing Africa?
Also, what are the prospects for an Asian nation to discover the Americas, if Europe doesn't.