15 Interesting Facts About Christopher Columbus

1. Christopher Columbus is believed to have been born between August 25 and October 31, 1451.

2. Christopher Columbus was born in Genoa, Italy and his given name was Cristoforo Colombo.

3. Christopher Columbus began a career as a seafarer at the age of fourteen and later supported himself by selling maps and charts.

4. Christopher Columbus believed that Asia would be 2,400 miles west. In fact, 10,000 nautical miles lay between Europe and Asia.

5. Christopher Columbus first went to King John of Portugal with his idea to find a westward sea passage to Asia but after months of waiting, the answer was no thank you.

6. Queen Isabella's response to Columbus's idea was that his price was to high and that he wanted too many ships.

7. If he in fact reached the Indies, Christopher Columbus was asking for a title, a coat or arms and one tenth of all profits for Spain.

8. It took Queen Isabella 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.

9. It wasn't easy to get the money or the ships, but it was even harder 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 of the side of the earth.

10. A royal decree on April 30, 1492 ordered the suspension of judicial proceedings against criminals that agreed to sail with Christopher Columbus. Even so, only four prisoners took advantage of this offer.

11. 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!"

12. Christopher Columbus and his crew were actually seeing the island of San Salvador, 375 miles off of the coast of Florida.

13. Columbus "discovered" (for the Europeans) many of the Caribbean Islands, South America and Central America.

14. 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.

15. Even though he made three return trips west, Christopher Columbus never actually stepped foot on the mainland of North America.

Sources:

The Value of Curiosity, The Story of Christopher Columbus by Spencer Johnson, M.D.

America in the Time of Columbus by Sally Senzell Isaacs