| Christopher Columbus as born in 1451 and died in May | | | | Columbus worked for some time with his brother as |
| 1506. He was a famous explorer and trader whose | | | | a draftsman, but soon returned to the sea, joining a |
| most significant voyage was crossing the Atlantic | | | | Portuguese fleet bound for Iceland , Ireland and also |
| Ocean and landing in the Americas on October 12, | | | | West Africa . |
| 1492 . | | | | There are two sides to Columbus - some view him |
| Although his actual nationality is a question of debate, | | | | as a man who, through his explorations, encouraged |
| this most famous voyage was done sailing under the | | | | a Western expansion. Others, however, see him as |
| flag of Castilian Spain. Columbus is the man most | | | | being responsible for the deaths of many indigenous |
| often believed as to having 'discovered' America , | | | | people, through the European exploitation of the |
| although there is evidence that other explorers had | | | | continent and the West Indian slave trade. |
| made the crossing before him. It was after Columbus | | | | One of Columbus ' conditions with the Spanish |
| ' crossing that marked the start of the Spanish and | | | | monarchs before his voyages was that he claimed |
| Portuguese colonisation of South America . | | | | governorship of the new territories. Columbus was an |
| Like many of the educated people of the period, | | | | excellent navigator, but his administrative skills were |
| Columbus believed that the earth was spherical in | | | | poor and he was soon stripped of his governorship in |
| shape. He argued that he would be able to reach the | | | | 1500. |
| Far East plotting a westward course. His main | | | | Christopher Columbus was always a very religious |
| opposition to his notions was not that others | | | | man, and he would often give 'the conversion of |
| believed the earth to be flat, but that nobody knew | | | | non-believers' as one of the reasons for his |
| if it was possible to sail around the world without | | | | explorations. In later life Columbus grew even more |
| running out of food or running into windless areas. | | | | religious and took to wearing a Franciscan habit. He |
| Columbus ' early career started in 1474, nearly 20 | | | | would claim to hear divine voices and even lobbied |
| years before reaching America . He spent a year on | | | | for a new crusade to capture Jerusalem . |
| a Genoese backed ship bound for the island of Khios | | | | Christopher Columbus died in Valladolid on May 20, |
| , in the Aegean Sea and it was while he was there, | | | | 1506 . He was quite a rich man thanks to all the gold |
| he began to recruit sailors of his own. | | | | he had gathered in his earlier years. |
| Two years later, Columbus embarked on his first | | | | After his death, his body underwent excarnation - |
| foray into the Atlantic Ocean , which, sadly ended | | | | where the skin is removed so only bone is left. He |
| off the Cape of St. Vincent in Portugal , when his | | | | was first interred in Valladolid and was then moved |
| fleet came under attack from French Privateers, who | | | | to a monastery in Seville . At the behest of his son, |
| burned his ship and Columbus was forced to swim six | | | | Columbus ' remains were then moved to Santa |
| miles back to shore. | | | | Domingo. When the French took over 200 years |
| After this, he settled in Lisbon , in Portugal , which | | | | later, he was moved to Havana , and then in 1898 |
| had become a hive of maritime activity with ships | | | | after Cuba 's independence, they were finally moved |
| setting sail to destinations across Europe and Africa . | | | | to the cathedral in Seville . |