Facts about Christopher Columbus |
| Christopher Columbus Fact 1 | Why was Christopher Columbus famous and what part of America did he explore? He discovered America in 1492 whilst he was searching for a new trade route to the Indies - China (Cathay). | |
| Christopher Columbus Fact 2 | When was Christopher Columbus born? He was born in 1451 and died in 1506 | | |
| Christopher Columbus Fact 3 | What was his country of origin and where was Christopher Columbus born? He was born in Genoa, Italy but he lived in Portugal and Spain | |
| Christopher Columbus Fact 4 | Christopher Columbus came from a respected family, but they were not rich | |
| Christopher Columbus Fact 5 | In 1467 Christopher Columbus travelled to Iceland when he was sixteen years old | |
| Christopher Columbus Fact 6 | Christopher Columbus spent some of his early life as a pirate, or Privateer, attacking ships belonging to the Moors | |
| Christopher Columbus Fact 7 | His brother, Bartholomew, worked as a cartographer | |
| Christopher Columbus Fact 8 | Christopher Columbus married wealthy Felipa Perestrello Moniz, a daughter from a noble Portuguese family who had been involved with the discovery of the Madeira Islands | |
| Christopher Columbus Fact 9 | He obtained valuable charts of the winds and currents of the Portuguese possessions in the Atlantic from his father-in-law, Bartolomeu Perestrello, who was also an explorer | |
| Christopher Columbus Fact 10 | In 1484 he failed to get the King of Portugal to finance his plan to search for a fast trade route to the Indies | |
| Christopher Columbus Fact 11 | His wife died in 1485 | |
| Christopher Columbus Fact 12 | In 1486 he moved to Spain and married his second wife, Dona Beatriz Enriquez, and they also had a son in 1488 called Fernando (1488 - 1539) | |
| Christopher Columbus Fact 13 | He was unable to get the Queen of Spainterested in his plans to expolre new trade routes but in 1491 a priest called Father Perez interceded on behalf of Columbus and pleaded with Queen Isabella to fund Columbus who, if he succeed would be able to convert indigenous people to Christianity | |
| Christopher Columbus Fact 14 | In 1492 King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain finally give Christopher Columbus the money and ships | |
| Christopher Columbus Fact 15 | Both the sons of Christopher Columbus served as pages to Prince Juan, the son of the King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella | | |
| Christopher Columbus Fact 16 | In 1492 Christopher Columbus undertook the voyage that would take him to the New World | |
| Christopher Columbus Fact 17 | The name of the ship that Christopher Columbus sailed in was the Santa Maria | |
| Christopher Columbus Fact 18 | The names of the other two ships that undertook the voyage were the Pinta, and the Nina | |
| Christopher Columbus Fact 19 | The Voyage of Christopher Columbus began on September 8, 1492 September
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| Christopher Columbus Fact 20 | The journey was long and difficult. His crew became extremely disgruntled and were near mutiny when land was sighted on October 12, 1492 | |
| Christopher Columbus Fact 21 | Christopher Columbus landed on Watling's Island in the Bahamas, West Indies which he called San Salvador. | |
| Christopher Columbus Fact 22 | Christopher Columbus took possession of the new land for Ferdinand and Isabella, King and Queen of Aragon and Castile | |
| Christopher Columbus Fact 23 | He believed that he has reached the passage to India and China
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| Christopher Columbus Fact 24 | Christopher Columbus established the first Spanish settlement in the New World - Refer to Spanish in America | |
| Christopher Columbus Fact 25 | He returned to Spain and arrived at Palos in Spain on 15 March, 1493 | |
| Christopher Columbus Fact 26 | He undertook three more voyages to the New World and discovered Hispaniola (Jamaica) and went on to become the first European to land in South America | |
| Christopher Columbus Fact 27 | Christopher Columbus died on May 20, 1506 at the Spanish court at Valladolid | |
Facts about Christopher Columbus for Kids |
