20, 21, 22

20....
I knew that Cairo was an important city in this era, but i wasn't aware that it served as the trading hub for Muslims exchanging Chinese goods with Europeans... Amazing how disease can have such far-reaching effects.

The compass is a Chinese invention!! Interesting, I think I've been attributing too many sailing innovations to the Portuguese and Spanish...

I had no idea the circumference of the earth was 25,000 nautical miles. And Columbus under-estimated the distance to Japan by 4 times the actual distance!

Interesting that after all his success, Magellan gets killed in a dispute in the Philippines. Impressive also that the crew kept sailing.

The French had a trading post in India. How come we never hear of French sailing and trade?

21...
Martin Luther didn't nail his 95 theses to a church door. There's that fourth current!

I don't know where I thought he was, but I wasn't aware that Calvin sought refuge in Geneva. Apparently Switzerland has been neutral for a long time...

When discussing the Catholic Reformation, the Council of Trent is often discussed. I did not know of the existence of the Society of Jesus, though its development into the Jesuit faith is familiar to me.

Looking at the map on page 382 (our book), I was surprised to see the expanse of the Polish territory in the 16th century.

Once again referring to a map, I'd forgotten how far Italy stretched north during the reign of its city-states.

22...
Dona Marina's story is a very interesting one I had never heard. Hernan Cortes' success would have indeed been much different were it not for her.

I always thought the word maize was from South American origin. The Taino society certainly left us with familiar words that are now a big part of our society and recreation!

I had forgotten about the Treaty de Tordesillas. But if Spain and Portugal were splitting non-Christian lands between themselves, who was taking the Christian ones?

I didn't realize that Australia and other Pacific Islands were more or less untouched until the 17th century. I was under the impression that they were conquered, or at least heavily visited, soon after Africa and Asia.

Guam seems to be popping up quite regularly in the text. I'm surprised by its significant role in early exploration...