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Christopher Columbus
Italian-born navigator and explorer
* Birth 1451 Genoa, Italy    + May 20, 1506


Known as The first European to successfully sail to the Americas.

August 3, 1492   Embarked with three ships from Spain in search of a westward route to Asia.
October 12, 1492 Landed at Guanahani, an island in the Bahamas, and renamed it San Salvador.
March 1493  Returned to Spain.
September 1493  Embarked with 17 vessels on a second expedition to the New World, during which he traveled to Dominica, Guadeloupe, Antigua, Puerto Rico, and Jamaica.
1493  Founded Isabela, the first European town in the New World, near what is now Cabo Isabela, Dominican Republic.
1496  Returned to Spain after a royal commission was sent to Isabela to investigate his governing policies.
1498  Embarked on a third voyage to the New World, during which he traveled to Trinidad, the mouth of the Orinoco River, and Venezuela.
1500  Was arrested and sent back to Spain following criticism of his policies in the Spanish territories.
1502  Embarked with four ships on a fourth voyage to the New World, during which he traveled to Honduras and Panama.
1504  Returned to Spain, where he died two years later.

Spanish patrons King Ferdinand V and Queen Isabella funded Columbus's voyages, and allowed him to govern all territories he established.

During the 1492 voyage, Columbus kept a second log showing a reduced distance from that actually traveled; he shared this abridged version with his crew to alleviate alarm at how far from home they were.

Columbus called the inhabitants of the Caribbean Islands Indians because he thought he had reached the East Indies.

Stopping at the island of Puerto Rico during his second voyage earned Columbus the lasting reputation of discovering America.

Columbus brought back several previously unknown crops to Europe, including tobacco.       Return to Top •

by Mauro ©          

Row, Row, Row your boat, gently down the stream. Merrily, Merrily, Merrily, life is but a dream!

Voyage to America
  ....509 Years later...!