Here’s something that I never learned in school when reading about Christopher Columbus. It turns out that he was saved by a lunar eclipse!

Stranded on the coast of Jamaica, the explorers were running out of food and faced with increasingly hostile local inhabitants who were refusing to provide them with any more supplies.

Columbus, looking at an astronomical almanac compiled by a German mathematician, realized that a total eclipse of the Moon would occur on February 29, 1504.

He called the native leaders and warned them if they did not cooperate, he would make the Moon disappear from the sky the following night.

The warning, of course, came true, prompting the terrified people to beg Columbus to restore the Moon — which he did, in return for as much food as his men needed. He and the crew were rescued on June 29, 1504.

The type of lunar eclipse that saved Columbus and his crew is the exact same type of lunar eclipse that’s set to take place this Wednesday, February 20, 2008 (beginning at 8:43PM).

If you miss this total lunar eclipse, the next chance to catch one like it will be December 21, 2010.