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• Italian navigator and explorer Christopher Columbus kick-started and inspired the European movement to colonize the "New World" of the Americas in the 15th and 16th Centuries.

• Fast Facts

  1. Born: 1451 in Italy
  2. Hoped to find a Western route to Asia
  3. Embellished 1828 biography by Washington Irving inspired Columbus mythology
  4. Made four voyages to the Americas
  5. Funded by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabel of Spain
  6. Ships: Nina, Pinta, Santa Maria
  7. Always believed that he had reached India
  8. Died: May 20, 1506
  9. Columbus Day is celebrated on the 2nd Monday in October

• Timeline

  1. August 3, 1492: Embarks on first trip to America
  2. October 12, 1492: Land is first sighted
  3. September 24, 1493: Second cross-Atlantic trip
  4. May 30, 1498: Third trip
  5. May 11, 1502: Final trip
  6. 1503: Stranded in Jamaica for one year

• The New World

  Columbus is commonly credited with "discovering" America, but European explorers before him had already landed there. Seeking an ocean route to Asia for trade purposes, Columbus sailed West on the Atlantic Ocean with three ships funded by Spain (after unsuccessfully attempting to secure funding from Portugal and Italy). After arriving in Central America, Columbus mistakenly believed he had reached India, calling the natives Indians.

• Related Mahalo Pages

  Amerigo Vespucci | Vasco da Gama | Bartholomew Dias | Ferdinand Magellan | Grenada | Prince Henry the Navigator | Jacques Cartier | Feasting On Waves

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