Events from 1493

Columbus returns to Spain with maize - first New World crop introduced to Europe, initially used as animal feed

Columbus encounters chili peppers - mistakes them for black pepper (hence 'pepper'), brings to Spain

Columbus brings sugar cane to Caribbean - establishes plantation system that drives Atlantic slave trade

Philippus Aureolus Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim (Paracelsus) born in Einsiedeln, Switzerland, son of physician Wilhelm Bombast von Hohenheim