ADVENTURER AND EXPLORER - CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS

                                                      

       

ADVENTURER AND EXPLORER -  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS

Christopher Columbus was an Italian explorer and navigator who completed four Spanish-based voyages across the Atlantic Ocean sponsored by the Catholic Monarchs of Spain, opening the way for the widespread European exploration and colonization of the Americas.

"You can never cross the ocean unless you have the courage to lose sight of the shore."

                                                 - Christopher Columbus

                                       First Voyage of Columbus

 

 It is commonly said that "Columbus discovered America."

 

                                             The fleet of Columbus

      

"For the execution of the voyage to the Indies, I did not make use of intelligence, mathematics or maps."

                                                          -  Christopher Columbus

Explorer Christopher Columbus is known for his 1492 'discovery' of the New World of the Americas on board his ship Santa Maria.

 

What is Americas nickname -  "Uncle Sam".

  

Americans get a day off work on October 10 to celebrate Columbus Day. It's an annual holiday that commemorates the day on October 12, 1492, when the Italian explorer Christopher Columbus officially set foot in the Americas, and claimed the land for Spain. It has been a national holiday in the United States since 1937.

 

A brief biography :

 

 

Christopher Columbus, Italian Cristoforo Colombo Spanish Cristóbal Colón, (born between Aug. 26 and Oct. 31?, 1451, Genoa—died May 20, 1506, Valladolid, Spain), Genoese navigator and explorer whose transatlantic voyages opened the way for European exploration, exploitation, and colonization of the Americas. He began his career as a young seaman in the Portuguese merchant marine. In 1492 he obtained the sponsorship of the Spanish monarchs Ferdinand II and Isabella I for an attempt to reach Asia by sailing westward over what was presumed to be open sea. On his first voyage he set sail in August 1492 with three ships—the Santa María, the Niña, and the Pinta—and land was sighted in the Bahamas on October 12. He sailed along the northern coast of Hispaniola and returned to Spain in 1493. He made a second voyage (1493–96) with at least 17 ships and founded La Isabela (in what is now the Dominican Republic), the first European town in the New World. This voyage also began Spain’s effort to promote Christian Evangelization. On his third voyage (1498–1500) he reached South America and the Orinoco River delta. Allegations of his poor administration led to his being returned to Spain in chains. On his fourth voyage (1502–04) he returned to South America and sailed along the coasts of present-day Honduras and Panama. He was unable to attain his goals of nobility and great wealth. His character and achievements have long been debated, but scholars generally agree that he was an intrepid and brilliant navigator.

Columbus’s timing was fortunate. By 1492 the Ottoman Empire and other Islamic states had effectively closed off the land and sea routes along the Silk Road. European nations now sought new routes to Asia to obtain gold, spices, herbs, and medicines.

 

King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain saw in Columbus’s plans a way to defeat Portugal and other rival nations in the quest for access to India and China. The Roman Catholic Church hoped such a voyage would lead to the recapture of Jerusalem and the conversion of Asian peoples to Christianity. In April 1492 Columbus was awarded the title “Admiral of the Ocean Sea,” and Spain agreed to finance his first expedition. 

• Columbus's journeys to the Americas opened the way for European countries to colonize and exploit those lands and their peoples.
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• Trade was soon established between Europe and the Americas. Plants native to the Americas (such as potatoes, tomatoes, and tobacco) were imported to Europe.
• This trade route also paved the way for the slave trade between Europe, Africa, and the Americas.
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• Explorers and settlers brought with them diseases that had a devastating effect on Native American populations. Many native peoples perished or were driven from their homes by colonizers.

  

Today some cities and regions in the Americas recognize this complex legacy by observing both Columbus Day and Indigenous Peoples’ Day. Yet Columbus’s skills as a navigator are undisputed, and his voyages remain remarkable feats of maritime exploration. 

 

 Who discovered India :

 Vasco da Gama, Portuguese Vasco da Gama, 1^er conde da Vidigueira, (born c. 1460, Sines, Portugal—died December 24, 1524, Cochin, India), Portuguese navigator whose voyages to India (1497–99, 1502–03, 1524) opened up the sea route from western Europe to the East by way of the Cape of Good Hope.

During Vasco da Gama’s first voyage, he carried padrões (stone pillars) as marks of discovery.  He erected one on an island near Mossel Bay, South Africa, two in Mozambique, and one in Calicut, India, to prove that his fleet—two three-masted sailing ships, a 50-ton caravel, and a 200-ton Storeship -- had been there.

Arriving in Goa in September 1524, da Gama immediately set himself to correct the many administrative abuses that had crept in under his predecessors. Whether from overwork or other causes, he soon fell ill and died in Cochin in December.  In 1538 his body was taken back to Portugal.

 

There are few other maiden navigators and explorers in the world history like Marco Polo, Ferdinand Magellan, Amerigo Vespucci  etc.