 This is peppercorn. You know, black pepper. You put it on foods and this is a chili pepper. We call them both peppers, but they share very few genetic traits and actually come from opposite sides of the world. Would you believe me that the only reason we call them both peppers is because Christopher Columbus didn't want to get his head cut off? Until the rise of refrigeration in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, most people had a very limited diet. It mostly consisted of foods that could be found very near where they lived and it was almost always spoiled. So having a spice like pepper would make it way easier to choke down a meal. Nowadays you can find free salt and pepper packets at like every restaurant. But in the times of Columbus, these spices were far more valuable. It wasn't until the first century AD that trade routes between Europe and the East became prevalent. These routes were known as the Silk Road. Now the Silk Road is a bit of a misleading name. It wasn't actually a road made of silk. It wasn't like the Yellow Brick Road in Oz. It was a series of trade routes that extended from Turkey to India in places farther east where valuables like silk would be passed. It's basically the equivalent of if the Munchkins used the Yellow Brick Road to actually carry yellow bricks to the Emerald City. Now to get way too far into the weeds into this metaphor or do I say like it might be a simile. Doesn't matter, take an English course. If silk is like yellow bricks, spice was like gold bricks. So you can imagine when these trade routes were compromised with the sacking of Constantinople in 1453 and the rise of the Ottoman Empire, Europeans were none too thrilled. The fall of the Byzantine Empire made Land Routes East way too dangerous and the Venetian Treaty with the Ottoman Empire made it impossible for other European countries to travel east across the Mediterranean. So this is where Columbus comes in. He was born in Italy with aspirations of exploration. But because of the Venetian Treaty, no Italian monarchs were interested in exploration. So he would have to look elsewhere for benefactors. He would find these benefactors in King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain. They took an interest in Columbus's plan. They longed for the glory of the Crusades in the riches of their fellow monarchs. Columbus had promised them that he could find trade routes to the east by going west. See Columbus believed in a spherical earth that the earth was round. Now of course round is a two-dimensional term and the earth is actually a sphere. It exists in three dimensions. Four if you consider time. And then there's stuff like string theory. It's it's a lot to get into. But if you want to learn more maybe check out the sealer.org course. That was a wink. Anyway, despite the misconception that Columbus was the first person to think the world was round, there are actually references to a round earth predating Columbus by 2,000 years in Greece by Pythagoras. You know Pythagoras, the triangle guy. A squared plus B squared equals C squared. Don't worry, we have math courses too. The general concept that until very recently in human history everyone thought the world was flat can often be attributed to cultural insults. People would be talking bad about another country or another culture and would say something like you guys are so backwards. You probably just recently found out the world was round or something like that. I'm not I'm I'm not great with cultural insults. So in 1492 Columbus set sail from Spain across the Atlantic Ocean in three ships. America was in the way. Columbus quickly realized that he in fact landed in a new place entirely. Well, this caused a problem for old Chris because he had promised the Spanish crown that he would bring them the riches of the east. So as he met and interacted with the native population, he noticed and noted in his journal how they use capsaicin peppers in much the same way that Europeans use peppercorn. So when he headed back to the crown, he of course couldn't say he found the land roots he was looking for or got where he wanted to go or found all the riches. But at least he could say I brought you some pepper. But if you want to get a grasp on it, why not take a sailor Academy course? Wink. That wink was like that wink was to take take the course. Take take one of our courses, please. We're not desperate. I mean, we can we do fine. We don't need you. Maybe just just take a look. Maybe you like it. You don't know. Thing you could do. You just take a take a course. Take one course. Nothing to lose for you to try, you know, we can get some credit and low cost credit if you want. That's what you're looking for. Just saying. Try it out or don't. No pressure. No pitch here. Just saying. Maybe try it out. Maybe don't. I don't care. That was too much. I think we can all agree that was that was for a field. Glad we're on the same page.