4 . In early November of 1503, during Christopher Columbus's fourth and final trip to America, his ship was seriously damaged in a storm. Columbus and his men had to live on a small island for several months while they tried to repair their ship and return to Spain.

At first, the local people on the island were very kind to the European visitors, giving them all the food and clothes they needed to survive. However, as months passed, the local people became more and more unhappy with their guests, who were tricking and stealing from them. Finally the locals decided to stop helping. Without food or any way to leave the island, Columbus's group was soon in serious trouble.

Luckily for Columbus, he had a book about the stars and planets on his ship. It described the movements of all the objects in the night sky. The book, written by a well-known German scientist, said there would be a total lunar eclipse(月全食) on the evening of   February 29,1504 and how long it would last.

Columbus worked out the difference in time between Germany and North America. He then had a meeting with the local leaders just before the eclipse would take place. In this meeting, Columbus told them his god was angry because the local people were no longer giving food. So his god would take away the moon to punish them. The moment Columbus finished talking, just as he had planned, the moon began disappearing.

The local leaders grew panicked and quickly agreed to provide Columbus with food and anything else he wanted. But first, Columbus's god had to return the moon. Columbus told them he would have to discuss the idea with his god on his ship. Knowing the moon would stay completely hidden for about 48minutes, Columbus returned just before the moon began to reappear. From that day on, until they finally left, Columbus and his men no longer had any trouble getting the food they needed.