What is the historical significance of the life and activities of

Christopher Columbus?
INTRO
Christopher Columbus is widely known for the discovery of the
Americas in the attempt to find a shorter route to India by sailing
through the west. He was born in Genoa, Italy in 1451 under the name
Cristoforo Colombo. He was the son of a weaver of humble origins. His
early years in the merchant city of Genoa would give him the basic
education that would later on help him throughout his life. Since an
early age, Columbus lived up to the old proverb Januensis ergo
mecator (Genoese, and therefore a merchant), he was involved in
small mercantile activities and never gave up the chance to earn a
profit. Another crucial point in his life was enrolling as a merchants
apprentice at sea and later on he would be a sailor aboard Genoese
ships that frequented the Mediterranean waters. After a few years
sailing with the Genoese, the ship wrecked in the coast of Portugal
where he would spend his next 10 years and where he would
perfection his sailing skills. At the time, the Portuguese was the leading
European country in terms of maritime technology and knowledge. By
the time when Columbus reached Portugal, two main ships had been
developed, the caravel and the nao which where both able to
withstand long distance voyages. Another crucial element that would
help Columbus in his future voyages was that in 1484, King Joo II had
assembled a group of famous mathematicians to find a ways to
estimate and map locations by using the correlation between the
angular position of the sun and the degree of latitude. Columbus would
later on set off on 4 voyages to the Americas, which he mistakenly
referred to as India.
VOYAGE 1
With the financial support of Spanish monarchs
VOYAGE 2
VOYAGE 3
VOYAGE 4
COLUMBUS ROLE IN HISTORY