Christopher Columbus
Christopher Columbus (1451-1506), Italian explorer, popularly regarded as the discoverer of America. He maintained that the earth was round and that Asia could be reached by sailing westward. In 1492 the king and queen of Spain agreed to finance his voyage of exploration and he set sail with three ships, the Santa Maria, the Nita and the Pinta. He reached Dominica and Cuba and called them the West Indies, thinking that they were part of Asia. He later explored the Central and South American mainland and many more of the Caribbean islands, where he set up rich trading posts.
