Columbus discovered South America. Who discovered America first? Geographical explorations of South America

The history of the discovery of America is quite amazing. These events took place at the end of the 15th century due to the rapid development of navigation and shipping in Europe. In many ways, we can say that the discovery of the American continent happened quite by accident and the motives were very banal - the search for gold, wealth, large trading cities.

In the 15th century, ancient tribes lived on the territory of modern America, who were very good-natured and hospitable. In Europe, in those days, even then the states were quite developed and modern. Each country tried to expand its sphere of influence, to find new sources of replenishment of the state treasury. At the end of the 15th century, trade flourished, the development of new colonies.

Who discovered America?

In the 15th century, ancient tribes lived on the territory of modern America, who were very good-natured and hospitable. In Europe, even then the states were quite developed and modern. Each country tried to expand its sphere of influence, to find new sources of replenishment of the state treasury.

When you ask any adult and child who discovered America, we will hear about Columbus. It was Christopher Columbus who gave impetus to the active search and development of new lands.

Christopher Columbus - the great Spanish navigator. Information about where he was born and spent his childhood is scarce and contradictory. It is known that being young, Christopher was fond of cartography. He was married to the daughter of a sailor. In 1470, the geographer and astronomer Toscanelli informed Columbus of his assumptions that the journey to India was shorter if one sailed west. Apparently, then Columbus began to hatch his idea of ​​​​a short way to India, while, according to his calculations, it was necessary to sail through the Canary Islands, and Japan would already be close there.
Since 1475, Columbus has been trying to implement the idea and make an expedition. The purpose of the expedition is to find a new trade route to India through Atlantic Ocean. To do this, he turned to the government and the merchants of Genoa, but he was not supported. The second attempt to find funding for the expedition was the Portuguese king João II, however, even here, after a long study of the project, he was refused.

For the last time, with his project, he came to the Spanish king. At the beginning, his project was considered for a long time, even several meetings, commissions were held, this lasted for several years. His idea was supported by bishops and Catholic kings. But Columbus received final support for his project after the victory of Spain in the city of Granada, which was freed from the Arab presence.

The expedition was organized on the condition that Columbus, if successful, would receive not only the gifts and wealth of new lands, but also receive, in addition to the status of a nobleman, the title of Admiral of the Sea-Ocean and Viceroy of all lands, which he would open. For Spain, a successful expedition promised not only the development of new lands, but also the opportunity to trade directly with India, since according to an agreement concluded with Portugal, Spanish ships were forbidden to enter the waters of the western coast of Africa.

When and how did Columbus discover America?

Historians consider 1942 to be the year of the discovery of America, although this is rather approximate data. Discovering new lands and islands, Columbus did not even imagine that this was another continent, which would later be called the "New World". The traveler undertook 4 expeditions. He arrived in new and new lands, believing that these were the lands of "Western India". For a long time everyone in Europe thought so. However, another traveler, Vasco da Gama, declared Columbus a deceiver, since it was Gamma who found a direct route to India and brought gifts and spices from there.

What America did Christopher Columbus discover? We can say that thanks to his expeditions since 1492, Columbus discovered both North and South America. To be more precise, the islands were discovered, which are now considered either South or North America.

Who discovered America first?

Although historically it is believed that it was Columbus who discovered America, but in fact this is not entirely true.

There is evidence that the "New World" was previously visited by the Scandinavians (Leif Eriksson in 1000, Thorfinn Karlsefni in 1008), this journey became known from the manuscripts "The Saga of Eric the Red" and "The Saga of the Greenlanders". There are other "discoverers of America", but the scientific community does not take them seriously, as there is no reliable data. For example, America was previously visited by an African traveler from Mali - Abu Bakr II, a Scottish nobleman Henry Sinclair, a Chinese traveler Zheng He.

Why is America called America?

The first widely known and recorded fact is the visit to this part of the "New World" by the traveler and navigator Amerigo Vespucci. It is noteworthy that it was he who suggested that this is not India or China, but a completely new previously unknown mainland. It is believed that this is why the name America was assigned to the new land, and not its discoverer - Columbus.

What Christopher Columbus did, you will learn from this article.

What did Christopher Columbus discover? Discoveries of Christopher Columbus

The navigator is the most mysterious person of the era of the Great Geographical Discoveries and travel. His life is full of mysteries, dark spots, inexplicable coincidences and deeds. And all because mankind became interested in the navigator 150 years after his death - important documents have already been lost, and Columbus's life remained fanned with speculation and gossip. Plus, Columbus himself hid his origin (for unknown reasons), the motives of his actions and thoughts. The only thing that is known is 1451 - the year of his birth and the place of birth - the Republic of Genoa.

He made 4 expeditions, which were supplied by the Spanish king:

• The first expedition - 1492-1493.
• The second expedition - 1493-1496.
• The third expedition - 1498 - 1500.
• The fourth expedition - 1502 - 1504.

During four expeditions, the navigator discovered many new territories and two seas - Sargasso and Caribbean.

Lands discovered by Christopher Columbus

It is interesting that all the time the navigator thought that he had discovered India, and behind it he would find rich Japan and China. But it wasn't. He owns the discovery and exploration of the New World. The islands discovered by Christopher Columbus are the Bahamas and Antilles, Saman, Haiti and Dominica, the Lesser Antilles, Cuba and Trinidad, Jamaica and Puerto Rico, Guadeloupe and Margarita. He is the discoverer of the lands of Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, as well as the northern coast South America and Caribbean Central America.

Discovery of America by Christopher Columbus

But the most important thing is that during his expedition Christopher Columbus discovered America. It happened on October 12, 1492, when he landed on the island of San Salvador.

And it all started like this: on August 3, 1492, the expedition of the European navigator, consisting of the ships Santa Maria, Nina and Pinta, set out on a long journey. In September, the Sargasso Sea was discovered. They walked along German for three weeks. On October 7, 1492, the Columbus team changes its course to the southwest, believing that they missed Japan, which they so wanted to discover. After 5 days, the expedition stumbled upon an island named by Christopher Columbus in honor of the savior of Christ San Salvador. This date - October 12, 1492 is considered the official day of the discovery of America.

A day later, Columbus landed and hoisted the Castilian banner. Thus, he formally became the owner of the island. Having explored the nearby islands, the navigator sincerely believed that these were the vicinity of Japan, India and China. First time open lands called the West Indies. Christopher Columbus returned to Spain on March 15, 1493 on the ship Nina. As a gift to King Ferdinand II of Aragon, he brought gold, natives, plants unprecedented to Europeans - potatoes, corn, tobacco, as well as bird feathers and fruits.

We hope that from this article you have learned what discoveries of Christopher Columbus became famous all over the world.

The continents known today as North and South America were discovered in the prehistoric period. Before the arrival of European explorers in the Americas, tens of millions of indigenous peoples lived here. The lands of America were repeatedly "discovered" by peoples coming from different corners world for many generations, beginning with the Stone Age, when a group of hunters first visited a land that was truly an unexplored New World.

It becomes curious why then it is believed that America was discovered by Christopher Columbus. In addition, there are other theories about who first discovered America: Irish monks (6th century), Vikings (10th century), sailors from China (15th century), etc.

The first settlers in America

Migration route from Asia to North America

The first people who settled in America came there from Asia, probably about 15,000 years ago. During the Pleistocene epoch, the ice sheets of the Laurentian and Cordillera glaciers, as a result of melting, formed a narrow corridor and a land bridge between Russia and Alaska. Land bridge between west coast Alaska and Siberia, known as the Bering Isthmus, opened up due to falling ocean levels and connected the continents of Asia and North America.

Interesting fact: In place of the Bering Isthmus, the current Bering Strait was formed, separating Asia and North America. The strait was named after the officer of the Russian fleet Vitus Bering, who crossed it in 1728.

Settlement of the Americas by Indigenous Peoples

The ancient settlers of America - the Paleo-Indians - passed through the Bering Isthmus from Asia to America following the movement of large animals. These migrations occurred before the Laurentian and Cordilleran glaciers closed and closed the corridor. The settlement of America continued in the future by sea or on ice. After the ice plates melted and the ice age ended, the settlers who arrived in the Americas became isolated from other continents. Thus, the American continents first discovered nomadic Asian tribes about 15,000 years ago, who initially settled North America, then spread to Central and South America and became the Native American peoples.

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VI century - Irish monks

According to legend, Irish monks reached North America in the 6th century.

According to popular Irish legend, a group of Irish monks, led by Saint Brendan, took a boat to the west in the 6th century in search of new lands. Seven years later, the monks returned home and reported that they had found a land covered with lush vegetation, which was modern Newfoundland.

There is no exact evidence confirming that Irish monks landed on the coast of North America. However, in 1976, British traveler Tim Severin tried to prove that such a journey was possible. Severinus built an exact replica of the 6th-century monks' ship and sailed from Ireland to North America along the route described by the traveling monks. The explorer reached Canada.

10th century - Vikings

The Scandinavian navigator Leif Eriksson reached the shores of North America in 1000 BC.

Around 984, the Scandinavian navigator Erik Kras explored ancient shipping routes and discovered Greenland. Leif Eriksson, the son of Eric Kras, in 999, with a crew of 35 people on one ship, set off from Greenland to Norway. Soon Leif Eriksson traveled across the Atlantic Ocean to North America, where around 1000 he founded a Norwegian settlement on the territory of the modern Canadian island of Newfoundland. The Vikings named the settlement "Vineland" (eng. Vineland - "Grape land") because of the abundance of grapes growing on this land. However, Erickson and his team did not stay long - only a few years - before returning to Greenland. Relations with native North Americans were hostile.

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archaeological site"L'Anse-o-Meadows" in Newfoundland (Canada): a Viking settlement at the end of the 11th century

In the sagas, the Vikings who settled in America are referred to as "skrelings" by the Native Americans. Most of the sagas come from Scandinavian folklore, but in 1960 the Norwegian archaeologist Helge Ingstad found the first European Viking settlement of the end of the 11th century, identical to the settlements in the Scandinavian countries, in the northern tip of Newfoundland (Canada). This historical and archaeological site has been named "L'Anse aux Meadows" and is recognized by scientists as evidence of pre-Columbian transoceanic contacts.

XV century - sailors from China

Chinese explorer Zheng He's fleet included no less than 250 ships.

British naval officer Gavin Menzies theorized that the Chinese had colonized South America. He claimed that the Chinese explorer Zheng He, who commanded an armada of wooden sailing ships in the early 15th century, discovered America in 1421. Zheng He explored South East Asia, India and the east coast of Africa using advanced navigation techniques.
Gavin Menzies, in 1421 - The Year China Discovered the World, wrote that Zheng He sailed to east coast United States and may have established settlements in South America. Menzies based the theory on evidence from ancient shipwrecks, Chinese and European maps, and reports compiled by navigators of the time. However, this theory is questionable.

Discovery of America by Christopher Columbus

Christopher Columbus

On August 3, 1492, the Spanish navigator Christopher Columbus, originally from the Italian city of Genoa, with the support of the Spanish rulers - King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella - with a fleet of 3 caravels ("Nina", "Pinta", "Santa Maria") and 90 crew members sailed from the port of Palos (Spain). The sailors set out in search of western route to Asia in order to acquire precious metals, pearls, silk, spices. October 12, 1492 the team of Christopher Columbus saw the earth and discovered New World(America). In his personal notes, Columbus noted that he had found a "New World" unknown to Europeans. The crew went ashore on the island of San Salvador in the Bahamas. Columbus assumed that sailors reached the islands located near India. Hence the name of the islands caribbean- West Indies. Columbus called the local natives "Indians" - the name of the indigenous population of America, which has survived to this day.

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Flagship of Christopher Columbus "Santa Maria"

Christopher Columbus created a colony in America, which became the first European settlement in the New World. The Spanish navigator also opened the southern trade, which supplied sailing ships carrying goods to the New World. After the first successful voyage (1492-1493), the Spanish monarchs awarded Columbus the rank of admiral.

Swimming of Christopher Columbus

Christopher Columbus made four expeditions to America during 1492-1504 Columbus died on May 20, 1506, still believing he had found new route to Asia and that the islands he explored are part of the Asian continent. By that time, other explorers were following the sea route first found by the admiral, and Europeans were already talking about Columbus' discoveries as the "New World".

For the first time, the idea to cross the Atlantic Ocean to find a direct and fast route to India was allegedly visited by Columbus as early as 1474 as a result of correspondence with the Italian geographer Toscanelli. The navigator made the necessary calculations and decided that the easiest way would be to sail through the Canary Islands. He believed that from them to Japan there were only about five thousand kilometers, and from the Land of the Rising Sun it would not be difficult to find a way to India.

But Columbus was able to fulfill his dream only after a few years, he repeatedly tried to interest the Spanish monarchs in this event, but his demands were recognized as excessive and expensive. And only in 1492, Queen Isabella gave a trip and promised to make Columbus an admiral and viceroy of all open lands, although she did not donate money. The navigator himself was poor, but his colleague, the shipowner Pinson gave his ships to Christopher.

Discovery of America

The first expedition, which began in August 1492, was attended by three ships - the famous "Nina", "Santa Maria" and "Pinta". In October, Columbus reached the land and ashore, it was an island that he named San Salvador. Confident that this is a poor part of China or some other undeveloped land, Columbus, however, was surprised by many things unknown to him - he first saw tobacco, cotton clothes, hammocks.

Local Indians told about the existence of the island of Cuba in the south, and Columbus went in search of it. During the expedition, Haiti and Tortuga were discovered. These lands were declared the property of the Spanish monarchs, and Fort La Navidad was created in Haiti. The navigator went back together with plants and animals, gold and a group of natives, whom the Europeans called the Indians, since no one yet suspected the discovery of the New World. All found lands were considered part of Asia.

During the second expedition, Haiti, the archipelago of Jardines de la Reina, the island of Pinos, Cuba were examined. For the third time, Columbus discovered the island of Trinidad, found the mouth of the Orinoco River and Margarita Island. The fourth voyage made it possible to explore the shores of Honduras, Costa Rica, Panama, and Nicaragua. The path to India was never found, but South America was discovered. Columbus finally realized that south of Cuba lies a whole mainland - a barrier to rich Asia. The Spanish navigator initiated the exploration of the New World.

The discovery of America for Europe, carried out by Christopher Columbus in 1492, is the most important milestone in the history of mankind. The appearance of a new continent on the geographical map changed people's idea of ​​the planet Earth, made them comprehend its immensity, countless possibilities of knowing the world and themselves in it. , the brightest page of which is the discovery of America, gave a powerful impetus to the development of European science, art, culture, the creation of new productive forces, the establishment of new production relations, which ultimately accelerated the replacement of feudalism by a new, more progressive socio-economic system - capitalism

Year of discovery of America - 1492

The first discovery of America by the Normans

The voyage of the Normans to the shores of North America was unthinkable without their substantiation in Iceland. But the first Europeans to visit Iceland were Irish monks. Their acquaintance with the island took place approximately in the second half of the 8th century.

“30 years ago (that is, no later than 795), several clerics who were on this island from February 1 to August 1 informed me that there, not only during the summer solstice, but also on the previous and subsequent days, the setting sun seemed to only hides behind a small hill, so that it is not dark there even for the shortest time… and one can do whatever work one wants… If the clerics lived on the high mountains of this island, the sun might not hide from them at all… As long as they are there lived, days always gave way to nights, except for the period of the summer solstice; however, at a distance of one day's journey further north, they discovered a frozen sea ”(Dikuil - an Irish medieval monk and geographer who lived in the second half of the 8th century AD)

About 100 years later, a Viking ship accidentally washed up on the shores of Iceland

“They say that people from Norway are going to sail to the Faroe Islands…. However, they were carried to the west, to the sea, and there they found a large land. Entering the eastern fjords, they climbed high mountain and looked around to see if there was any smoke or any other signs that this land was inhabited, but they did not notice anything. In autumn they returned to the Faroe Islands. When they left for the sea, there was already a lot of snow on the mountains. Therefore, they called this country the Snow Land."

Over time, a large number of Norwegians moved to Iceland. By 930, there were about 25 thousand people on the island. Iceland became the starting point for further travels of the Normans to the West. In 982-983, Eirik Turvaldson, who became Eric the Red in the Russian tradition, discovered Greenland. In the summer of 986, Bjarni Herulfson, sailing from Iceland to the Greenland Viking settlement, lost his way and discovered land to the south. In the spring of 1004, the son of Eric the Red, Leyv the Happy, followed in his footsteps, discovering the Cumberland Peninsula (south of Baffin Island), the eastern coast of the Labrador Peninsula and the northern coast of Newfoundland Island. The northeastern shores of North America were then visited more than once by Viking expeditions, but in Norway and Denmark they were not considered important, since they were not very attractive natural conditions.

Prerequisites for the discovery of America by Columbus

- the fall of Byzantium under the blows of the Ottoman Turks, the birth of the Ottoman Empire in the east of the Mediterranean and in Asia Minor led to the cessation of overland trade links with the countries of the East along the Great Silk Road
- the critical need of Europe for the spices of India and Indochina, which were used not so much in cooking as as a hygiene item, for making incense. After all, Europeans washed their faces in the Middle Ages rarely and reluctantly, and a kintal (a measure of weight, 100 pounds) of pepper in Calicut or Hormuz cost ten times less than in Alexandria.
- erroneous idea of ​​medieval geographers about the size of the earth. It was believed that the Earth evenly consists of land - the giant continent of Eurasia with an appendage of Africa - and the ocean; that is, the maritime distance between the extreme western point of Europe and the extreme eastern point of Asia did not exceed several thousand kilometers

Brief biography of Christopher Columbus

There is little information about Christopher Columbus's childhood, youth, and youth. Where he studied, what education he received, what exactly he did in the first third of his life, where and how he mastered the art of navigation, the story tells very sparingly.
Born in Genoa in 1451. He was the first-born in a large weaver's family. Participated in the production and trade enterprises of his father. In 1476, by chance, he settled in Portugal. He married Felipe Moniz Perestrello, whose father and grandfather were actively involved in the activities of Henry the Navigator. He settled on the island of Porto Santo in the Madeira archipelago. He was admitted to the family archives, reports on sea voyages, geographical maps and lotions. Frequently visited the harbor of Porto Santo Island

“in which nimble fishing boats scurried and anchored ships going from Lisbon to Madeira and from Madeira to Lisbon. The helmsmen and sailors of these ships whiled away the long hours of stay in the port tavern, and Columbus had long and useful conversations with them ... (I learned from) experienced people about their voyages in the Sea-Ocean. A certain Martin Viseinte told Columbus that 450 leagues (2700 kilometers) west of Cape San Vicente, he picked up a piece of wood in the sea, processed, and at the same time very skillfully, with some kind of tool, obviously not iron. Other sailors met boats with huts beyond the Azores, and these boats did not capsize even on a big wave. We saw huge pine trees along the Azorean coast, these dead trees were brought by the sea at the time when strong western winds were blowing. Sailors came across on the shores of the Azores island of Faial the corpses of broad-faced people of "non-Christian" guise. A certain Antonio Leme, “married to a resident of Madeira,” told Columbus that, having passed a hundred leagues to the west, he came across three unknown islands in the sea ”(I. Light“ Columbus ”)

He studied and analyzed contemporary works on geography, navigation, travel notes travelers, treatises of Arab scientists and ancient authors, and gradually drew up a plan to reach the rich countries of the East by the western sea route.
The main sources of knowledge on the issue of interest were five books for Columbus

• Historia Rerum Gestarum by Aeneas Silvius Piccolomini
• "Imago Mundi" by Pierre d'Ailly
• "Natural History" by Pliny the Elder
• The Book by Marco Polo
• Parallel Lives of Plutarch

1484 - Columbus presented a plan to reach the "Indies" by the western route to King João II of Portugal. Plan rejected

1485 - Columbus's wife died, he decided to move to Spain

1486, January 20 - the first unsuccessful meeting of Columbus with the Spanish kings Isabella and Ferdinand

1486, February 24 - Columbus-friendly monk Marchena convinced the royal couple to transfer the Columbus project to the scientific commission

1487, winter-summer - consideration by a commission of astronomers and mathematicians of the Columbus project. The answer is negative

1487, August - the second, again unsuccessful, meeting of Columbus and the kings of Spain

1488, March 20 - Columbus was invited by the Portuguese king João II

1488, February - King Henry the Seventh of England rejected the project of Columbus, which was offered to him by Columbus' brother Bartolome

1488 December - Columbus in Portugal. But his project was again rejected because Dias opened the way to India around Africa

1489, March-April - Columbus negotiates with the Duke of Medosidonia on the implementation of his project

1489, May 12 - Isabella invited Columbus, but the meeting did not take place

1490 - Bartolome Columbus proposed to carry out the plan of the brother of the king of France, Louis XI. Unsuccessfully

1491, autumn - Columbus settled in the monastery of Rabida, whose abbot Juan Perez found support for his plans

1491, October - Juan Perez, being at the same time the queen's confessor, asked her in writing for an audience for Columbus

1491, November - Columbus arrived at the queen's military camp near Granada

1492, January - Isabella and Ferdinand approved the project of Columbus

1492, April 17 - Isabella, Ferdinand and Columbus concluded an agreement "in which the goals of the Columbus expedition were very dullly indicated and the titles, rights and privileges of the future discoverer of unknown lands were very clearly stipulated"

1492, April 30 - the royal couple approved a certificate of awarding Columbus with the titles of Admiral of the Sea-Ocean and Viceroy of all the lands that will be opened to them in navigation along the named Sea-Ocean. Titles complained forever “from heir to heir”, at the same time Columbus was elevated to a noble rank and could “name and title himself Don Christopher Columbus”, had to receive a tenth and an eighth of the profits from trade with these lands, had the right to resolve all litigations. The city of Palos was approved by the expedition preparation center

May 23, 1492 - Columbus arrives at Palos. In the city church of St. George, a decree of the kings was read with an appeal to the inhabitants of the city to assist Columbus. However, the townspeople greeted Columbus coldly and did not want to go to serve him1492

1492, June 15-18 - Columbus met with the rich and influential merchant of Palos, Martin Alonso Pinzon, who became his like-minded

1492, June 23 - Pinson began recruiting sailors

“He talked heart to heart with the inhabitants of Palos and everywhere said that the expedition needed brave and experienced sailors and that its participants would get great benefits. “Friends, go there, and we will go on this campaign all together; you will leave poor, but if, with God's help, we manage to open the land for us, then, having found it, we will return with gold bars, and we will all get rich, and we will get a big profit. Soon, volunteers were drawn into the harbor of Palos, wishing to take part in the voyage to the shores of an unknown land.

1492, beginning of July - a messenger of kings arrived in Palos, who promised various benefits and rewards to all participants in the voyage

1492, end of July - preparations for the voyage were completed

1492, August 3 - at 8 o'clock in the morning the Columbus flotilla set sail

Columbus ships

The flotilla consisted of three ships "Nina", "Pinta" and "Santa Maria". The first two belonged to the brothers Martin and Vicente Pinson, who led them. The Santa Maria was the property of the shipowner Juan de la Cosa. "Santa Maria" used to be called "Maria Galanta". She, like "Ninya" ("Girl") and "Pinta" ("Speck"), was named after Palos girls of easy virtue. For solidity, "Maria Galanta" Columbus asked to be renamed "Santa Maria". The carrying capacity of the "Santa Maria" was a little over a hundred tons, a length of about thirty-five meters. The length of the "Pinta" and "Nina" could be from twenty to twenty-five meters. The crews consisted of thirty people, and there were fifty people on board the Santa Maria. The Santa Maria and Pinta had direct sails when leaving Palos, the Nina had slanting ones, but in the Canary Islands Columbus and Martin Pinson replaced the slanting sails with straight ones. Neither drawings nor more or less accurate sketches of the ships of the first expedition of Columbus have come down to us, therefore it is impossible to even judge their classes. It is believed that they were caravels, although the caravels had slanting sails, and Columbus wrote in his diary on October 24, 1492 "I set all the sails of the ship - a mainsail with two foxes, fore, blind and mizzen." Mainsail, fore... - these are straight sails.

Discovery of America. Briefly

• 1492, September 16 - Diary of Columbus: "We began to notice many bunches of green grass, and, as could be judged by its appearance, this grass had only recently been torn off the ground."
• 1492, September 17 - Diary of Columbus: “I found that from the time of sailing from canary islands there was not so little salt water in the sea.”
• 1492, September 19 - Diary of Columbus: “At 10 o'clock a dove flew into the ship. We saw another one last night."
• 1492, September 21 - Diary of Columbus: “We saw a whale. A sign of land, because the whales swim close to the shore.
• 1492, September 23 - Diary of Columbus: "Since the sea was calm and warm, people began to grumble, saying that the sea is strange here, and the winds that would help them return to Spain will never blow."
• 1492, September 25 - Diary of Columbus: “The earth appeared. I ordered you to go in that direction."
• 1492, September 26 - Diary of Columbus: "What we took for the earth turned out to be the sky."
• 1492, September 29 - Diary of Columbus: "Sailed their way to the West."
• 1492, September 13 - Columbus noticed that the compass needle does not point to the North Star, but 5-6 degrees northwest.
• 1492, October 11 - Diary of Columbus: “Sailed west-south-west. For all the time of the voyage, there had never been such excitement at sea. We saw "pardelas" and green reeds near the ship itself. People from the caravel "Pinta" noticed a reed and a branch and fished out a hewn, possibly iron, stick and a piece of reed and other herbs that would be born on earth, and one plank

1492, October 12 - America is discovered. It was 2 a.m. when on board the faster, slightly ahead of the Pinta, there was a cry of “Earth, earth !!!” and a shot from a bombard. The contour of the shore stood out in the moonlight. Boats were lowered from the ships in the morning. Columbus with both Pinsons, a notary, a translator, a royal controller, landed on the shore. “The island is very large and very flat and there are many green trees and water, and in the middle there is big lake. There are no mountains,” wrote Columbus. The Indians called the island Guanahani. Columbus designated it San Salvador, now Watling Island, part of the Bahamas.

• 1492, October 28 - Columbus discovered the island of Cuba
• 1492, December 6 - Columbus approached big island, called the Borgio Indians. Along its coast "the most beautiful valleys stretch, very similar to the lands of Castile," the admiral wrote in his diary. apparently that's why he called the island Hispaniola, now Haiti
• 1492, December 25 - "Santa Maria" ran into reefs off the coast of Haiti. The Indians helped to remove valuable cargo, guns and supplies from the ship, but the ship could not be saved.
• January 4, 1493 - Columbus set off on his return journey. He had to sail back on the smallest ship of the Niñe expedition, leaving part of the crew on the island of Hispaniola (Haiti), since even earlier the third ship Pinta separated from the expedition, and the Santa Maria ran aground. Two days later, both surviving ships met, but on February 14, 1493 they parted in a storm
• 1493, March 15 - Columbus returned to Palos on the Nina, with the same tide, the Pinta entered the harbor of Palos

Columbus made three more voyages to the shores of the New World, discovered islands and archipelagos, bays, bays and straits, founded forts and cities, but he never found out that he had found a way not to India, but to a world completely unknown to Europe