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This is the Memory Palace. I'm Nate DeMaio.

Ponce de Leon was born to a time of blank pages.

His first breath was drawn in a Spanish village called Centervas de Campos at some point between 1460 and 1474, which means that at

the time of his last breath, which was drawn in July of 1521, he was 47 years old, or maybe he was

61, or maybe he was somewhere in between there will

likely never be any definitive proof that could settle the matter however many of the

things that he did during his years on earth however many years those were were well

documented the pages in the story of his life began to fill in in 1493,

when he arrives in the Caribbean as a member of Columbus' second expedition.

Christopher Columbus returned to Spain and Ponce de Leon,

stayed in the New World and stayed in history's spotlight for much of the rest of his life.

That spotlight finds him thriving in the new world,

largely on the strength of his ability to make sure the people that were there before he'd arrived

...