Christopher Columbus
Christopher Columbus was born in Genoa, Italy, on August 25th, 1451. He spent his early years at sea, becoming an excellent captain. He had lots of maps and showed that the earth was round. He also showed that it was possible to sail west to reach the East. He then came to the conclusion that he could find a shortcut to the Indies by sailing west, across the Atlantic Ocean.
Columbus asked the King Henry of Portugal to finance his expedition, but the king didn’t believe in his enterprise and refused to help him. Columbus presented then his idea to King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain. They agreed to pay for his trip and gave him a crew of ninety sailors and three ships, the Niña, the Pinta and the Santa Maria. Columbus sailed aboard the Santa Maria.
The three ships set sail from Palos on August 3rd, 1492. They stopped at the Canary Islands for more food and water and sailed from the Canaries on September 6th.
The journey was long and hard, and the sailors became anxious and wanted to go back home. But on the seventieth day, two hours after midnight, a sailor on the Pinta saw land by the light of the moon. The ships docked on the island of Hispaniola. Columbus named the native people he saw Indians because he believed he had found the shortcut to the Indies, but in fact Columbus had found a brand new continent, which was later named America.
His discovery marked the beginning of Modern Era and the Age of Exploration, one of the most exciting times of world history. Columbus never realised he had discovered a new continent and died in Spain on May 20th, 1506 with the belief he had found the shortcut to the Indies.