Christopher ColumbusChristopher Col

Christopher Columbus

Christopher Columbus was born in Genoa, Italy in 1451. His career in

exploration started when he was very young. As a teenager he traveled the seas

and eventually made Portugal his base. He appealed to the kings of Portugal,

France and England to finance a westward trip to the Indies, but all denied his

request. After ten years of monumental efforts but fruitless results, King

Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain agreed to finance Columbus in the hopes

of acquiring great wealth. On August 3, 1492, Columbus and three ships, the

Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria, left Palos, Spain and headed westward.

After stopping in the Canary Islands off the coast of Africa, Columbus'

ships hit the open seas. Covering about 150 miles a day, the trip was long and

arduous. The crew was afraid of sea monsters and grew more restless every day

land was not sighted. Columbus offered a reward for the first person to sight

land. On October 12, a crew member aboard the Pinta sighted one of the

Bahama Islands. Columbus set foot on what he believed was one of the Spice

Islands, a group of islands in Asia (now known as Indonesia), where valuable

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spices and riches came from. He named the land San Salvador. Columbus failed

to find the riches he expected, and continued to search for China. He next

visited Cuba and Hispaniola (Dominican Republic). He encountered native

peoples who he named "Indians" because he believed they were inhabitants of

Columbus returned to Spain a hero. He was named viceroy of the Indies.

He soon returned to the New World but never found the riches he expected.

Some began to believe that Columbus had found "a new world" rather that a

Christopher Columbus made one of the greatest discoveries in the history

of the world - North America. Though he probably wasn't the first explorer to

see the continent, and he believed until his death that the islands he encountered

were in the Asian continent, his discoveries were instrumental in the

establishment of Spanish colonies in North America. Today, we celebrate

Columbus Day in October to commemorate his discoveries.