Christopher Columbus

Did you know that the most famous explorer of the continent was an Italian named Christopher Columbus, also known by the name Cristoforo Colombo?

Columbus was largely self-taught and well-read in the fields of geography, astronomy, and history. In order to take advantage of the lucrative spice trade, he devised a strategy to look for a western sea route to the East Indies. Following the Granada War, the Catholic Monarchs Queen Isabella I and King Ferdinand II agreed to support a travel to the west in response to Columbus's relentless campaigning in numerous kingdoms. Columbus set sail from Castile with three ships in August 1492, and on October 12, he arrived on American soil, putting an end to the pre-Columbian era of human life there. He landed on a Bahamas island called Guanahani, which is the name given to it by its locals. Later, after traveling to what are now known as Cuba and Hispaniola, he founded a colony in what is now Haiti. Early in 1493, Columbus made his way back to Castile, bringing a number of captive indigenous with him. His journey quickly became known across Europe.

He was acknowledged as the first European to discover the Americas in 1492. The discoveries made by Christopher Columbus at the time were not only important milestones for European exploration, but they also represented the spread of European influence over the globe and prepared the path for the colonization of new areas.