What are some Christopher Columbus Facts?

Christopher Columbus was one of the most famous explorers of all time. Born sometime between August 25 and October 31 of 1451 in Italy, he had two brothers. In 1470, the family moved to Savona, where he took his first sailing trip, and decided to become a sailor. In 1473, Columbus began an apprenticeship for several important Italian families and after that he eventually ended up being contracted to sail for the Queen of Spain.

Columbus History:

The First Voyage

Columbus’ first voyage was his most famous – he discovered North America even though he was trying to find India.

• August 3, 1492: Columbus and his crew set sail from Palos, Spain


• September 12: They arrived in the Bahamas where Columbus named five islands: San Salvador; Santa Maria de la Concepcion, Fernandina, Isabela, and Las Islas de Arena.


• October 28: They landed in Cuba and then sailed on.


• November 22: The captain of Columbus’ ship Pinta departed on his own and Columbus continued on.


• December 5: They arrived at Hispaniola.


• December 24: The Santa Maria grounded on a reef and Columbus was forced to build a fort on the shore there, where he named the shelter La Navidad .


• January 2, 1493: Columbus left the settlement and was forced to leave about 40 men behind to await his return because the Nina did not have enough room.


• January 6: Columbus was reunited with the Pinta.


• January 16: Columbus headed for Spain.


• February 14: The Pinta and Nina were separated during a fierce storm.


• March 15: The Pinta and Nina arrive separately in Palos, Spain.

The Second Voyage

Most of what is known about Columbus’ second voyage comes from accounts of others on the voyage. The majority of his own accounts have since been destroyed.

• October 13, 1943: Columbus left Hierro in the Canary Islands, hoping to return for his men in La Navidad


• November 22: Columbus arrived at Hispaniola.


• November 28: Columbus arrived at La Navidad, where he discovered the shelters burned and the men all dead, killed by natives.


• December 8: Columbus located a new island and named it La Isabela and established a colony.


• April 24, 1494: Columbus set sail, trying to reach China.


• April 30: Columbus reached Cuba.


• May 3: Columbus left Cuba.


• May 5: Columbus landed in Jamaica.


• May 14: Columbus returned to Cuba.


• August 20: Columbus returned to Hispaniola, where he spent 18 months as governor.


• March 10, 1496: Columbus departed for home.


• June 8: Columbus arrived in Portugal, completing his voyage.

Third Voyage

The goal of Columbus' third voyage was to discover if there were any unknown territories south of the Indies.

• May 30, 1948: Columbus departed from Seville, Spain with six ships.


• June 19: Columbus arrived in the Canary Islands and continued on.


• July 4: Columbus sailed west from Cape Verdes.


• July 31: Columbus spotted an island and named it Trinidad, after the Holy Trinity, becasue the island had three hills.


• August 4-12: Columbus explored the Gulf of Paria. He fell ill soon after.


• August 19: Columbus returned to Hispaniola, where a revolt had taken place. To restore peace, he agreed to humiliating terms and was eventually arrested by a royal commissioner to the colony, returning to Spain in shackles in October of 1500.

Fourth Voyage

This was Columbus’ last voyage .

• May 11, 1502: Columbus, sickly, began his last voyage.


• June 29: Columbus arrived at Santa Domingo but was denied entrance.


• Late July: Columbus arrived on the coast of Honduras. He discovered present-day Panama and named the region Veragua, then sailed down the coast, searching for gold.


• January 9, 1503: Columbus returned to Veragua.


• April 6: Columbus’ ship was stranded due to low water levels and attacked by natives. They survived and escaped but the ships were damaged.


• June 25: Columbus beached the ships in Jamaica. One of his captains, Diego Mendez, purchased a canoe and sailed for Hispaniola. He arrived months later and was detained for seven months.


• June 29, 1504: Mendez was able to charter a small caravel to Jamaica and returned.


• November 7: Columbus arrived back home in Spain.

Columbus's Navigation

At the time that Columbus was making his trip across the Atlantic, very few Portuguese sailors were using celestial navigation and Columbus was not really one of them . Celestial navigation is a technique that measured angles between objects in the sky and the horizon to locate a ship’s position on a globe.

Instead, Columbus preferred a technique known as dead reckoning . A ship’s navigator determines the position of his ship by tracking the distance and direction traveled from a known, fixed point. This technique depended on a navigator being able to accurately gauge the ship’s speed and direction; the direction was tracked using a compass and speed was determined using a complicated system of markers.

There’s some controversy surrounding Columbus' league measurement . A league is made up of four miles, but many countries had a different measurement for how long a mile was. Looking at Columbus’ records, the typical “Roman” mile of 4,860 feet is not accurate. Most historians believe he used the Geometric League as a measurement for his travels, where a mile would equal 4,060 feet.

Columbus’ crew had a bad reputation but it was actually composed of experienced sailors, none of whom were convicts. His most famous ships remain the Pinta, the Nina, and the Santa Maria , the three ships he took on his first voyage . His other ships included the San Juan and the Captiana.

There is also a bit of controversy surrounding Columbus’ first landing place because he visited five islands before landing on the actual continent of South America. Columbus’ original account of his journey disappeared after he gave it to the Queen of Spain. However, on the island of San Salvador, South America, a whitewashed cross has been erected on the beach at Landfall Parks that is widely accepted as his first landing place.

Columbus Special Topics

Columbus died on May 20, 1506, from a disease which was most likely Reiter's Syndrome , something he would have caught in the tropics. He was buried in Valladolid, Spain, but his body was moved to Seville shortly after. After his son Diego died, Diego’s widow had their bodies moved to a cathedral in Santo Domingo on Hispaniola. His body was moved again in 1795. The Spanish valued his body so much they hid it in Havana, Cuba so the French conquerors would not have it. The body was returned to Seville after Spain regained the island. Recent DNA tests show that the body moved to Seville was actually that of Diego, not Columbus – so his resting place is Santa Domingo!

There are many myths surrounding Columbus’ voyages. He did not set out to prove the Earth was round; by then, everyone knew that it was not flat. The Queen did not sell the crown jewels to fund any of his voyages and Columbus never saw the mainland United States.

Some people also resent that Columbus was credited with “discovering America”. In fact, a Norse village dating back around 1003 was discovered in 1960, meaning that the Norse were the first Europeans to set foot in the Americas.

Columbus was also accused of bringing about the genocide of the native people of South America. While it’s true that the Spanish killed many natives when war broke out between the natives and the Spaniards, Columbus was not responsible for the genocide that occurred. In fact, originally, he was rather friendly with the natives.

...

Answer verified with Get more facts and information about Christopher Columbus from Encyclopedia of World Biography at Encyclopedia.com.