As a young boy I was enamored with the stories of voyagers who ventured from Europe on ships and by land to explore new worlds. I was especially intrigued with the stories of the adventurers Ferdinand Magellan, Vasco da Gama, Hernando de Soto and Marco Polo and their exploits. But the most fascinating explorer by far, was Christopher Columbus.
This year marks the 532nd anniversary of Columbus “discovering America” (he really landed on the island of San Salvador, 375 miles off the coast of Florida). Nevertheless, to commemorate Columbus’ accomplishment, today, more than 60 cities and towns in the United States remind us of his legacy including the District of Columbia and Columbus, OH.
Generally regarded as the most famous explorer of the Age of Discovery, here are some facts about Christopher Columbus, some you may know and others you may not.
Christopher Columbus was not his real name. Born in Genoa, Italy, his actual given name was Cristoforo Colombo.
Christopher Columbus began a career as a seafarer at the age of fourteen and later supported himself by selling maps and charts.
Half of his voyages ended in disaster. On Columbus’ famed1492 voyage, his flagship the Santa Maria ran aground and sank, causing him to leave 39 men behind at a settlement named La Navidad. He was supposed to return to Spain loaded with spices and other valuable goods and knowledge of an important new trade route. Instead, he returned empty-handed and without the best of the three ships entrusted to him. On his fourth voyage, his ship rotted out from under him, and he spent a year with his men marooned on Jamaica.
Queen Isabella was hesitant to fund Columbus’s voyage. It took her six years to agree. Christopher Columbus, having given up, was four miles out of town when the Queen’s courier caught up with him and shared the news.
Once he received the money and the ships, Columbus still had a hard time trying to find a crew. Many people still believed that the earth was flat and that at some point a ship would hit a waterfall and fall off the side of the earth.
Christopher Columbus’s first voyage with the Nina, Pinta and the Santa Maria began on August 3, 1492. On October 12, 1492, a sailor on the Pinta shouted “Tierra!” or “Land!”
Christopher Columbus and his crew were seeing the island of San Salvador, 375 miles off of the coast of Florida.
On Christmas Eve, Christopher Columbus allowed an experienced boy to steer the Santa Maria and later that night the ship crashed onto a reef near Hispaniola. Only the Nina and Pinta would return to Spain.
Even though he made three return trips west, Christopher Columbus never actually stepped foot on the mainland of North America.
Columbus died in Spain in 1506, and his remains were kept there for a while before being sent to Santo Domingo in 1537. There they remained until 1795, when they were sent to Havana and in 1898, they supposedly went back to Spain. In 1877, however, a box full of bones bearing his name was found in Santo Domingo. Since then, two cities – Seville, Spain and Santo Domingo – claim to have his remains. In each city, the bones in question are housed in elaborate mausoleums.
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