Birth:
1451, Genoa, Italy
Death:
May 20, 1506, Valladolid, Spain.
Early Influences:
- Learned about the sea by growing up in a major port city
- Went to sea as a boy, age 14
Education:
- Had little formal education
- Did not learn to read and write until adulthood
Major Accomplishments:
- Set sail from Palos, Spain on August 3, 1492 and made landfall in the Bahamas on October 12, 1492
- Made four voyages across the Atlantic
- Discovered the West Indies
- Set up the colony of Isabela
Significance:
- His 'discovery' brought the New World into the European theater
- He inaccurately calculated the size of the earth and made other inaccuracies but was still able to return home and then back to the West Indies.
- Against great odds and despite much criticism, he believed in himself and pursued his dream
Contemporaries:
