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Jan 1, 1451
The birth of a soon-to-be explorer
This was the year that Christopher Columbus was born, however the exact day and month is unsure of. -
Aug 3, 1492
A great voyage began
Christopher Columbus had set sail from Palos, Spain along with three other ships. -
Oct 11, 1492
Land ho!
Columbus and his crew had spotted the Caribbean islands off southeastern North America. They'd landed on an island that they'd called Guanahani, but later on Columbus renamed San Salvador. They had been met by the local Taino Indians, who had mostly been captured by Columbus' men and sold them to slavery. Columbus had thought he'd made it to Asia, and called the area the Indies, which was his reasoning for calling the inhabitants Indians. -
Mar 15, 1493
The explorer returns
On Columbus' return to Spain in the Nina, the Santa Maria was greatly damaged and the captain of the Pinta sailed off on his own to make an attempt to beat Columbus back. -
Period: Sep 25, 1493 to Jun 11, 1496
Another trip
Columbus' second expedition with 17 ships and 1,200 to 1,500 men was a trip to find gold and capture more Indians as slaves in the Indies. Columbus had created a base in Hispaniola and sailed around Hispaniola and along the length of southern Cuba. -
Nov 3, 1493
Inbetween
Columbus found and named the island of Dominica -
Period: May 30, 1498 to Oct 1, 1500
Third time's a charm
Columbus sailed farther south, to Trinidad and Venezuela along with the mouth of the Orinoco River. Columbus was the first European to set foot on the mainland of America ever since the Viking Leif Ericsson. -
Period: May 9, 1502 to Nov 7, 1504
The fourth and final trip
Columbus sailed to Mexico, Honduras and Panama down in Central America and Satiago in Jamaica. Upon Columbus' death, he was buried in eastern Hispaniola (now called the Dominican Republic) and is still there today. -
Jan 1, 1506
A great explorer fell
The year that Columbus had passed away. The exact day and month is unsure of.