What year did Columbus discover South America? Climate weapons are weapons of mass destruction

As everyone is probably well aware, such a process as the discovery of the continent of America is a very extensive topic, but this article will talk about the discovery of America briefly, laying out the main essence.

The discovery of America is one of major events in the world history of mankind, as a result of which, the Old World - that is Western Europe, learned about the existence of a new, huge continent called America.

Expeditions of Christopher Columbus - discovery of a new continent

The great navigator Christopher Columbus set off on a sea voyage in 1492 in order to find a shorter route to the rich country of India.

The King and Queen of Castile and Aragon sponsored this expedition with three ships.

October 12 of the same year, Christopher Columbus reached the current Bahamas and it is this day that is considered the date of the discovery of a new continent. After that, they discovered a number of islands. In March 1493, Columbus returned to Castile. Thus ended his first of four expeditions to the Americas he had discovered.

The second expedition already had a fairly large number of ships and people. If in the first it was only three ships and a crew of less than a hundred people, then in the second expedition there were seventeen ships and more than 1 thousand people on board. The most important achievement of this expedition can be considered the conquest of Haiti. After that, Columbus returned to Spain in 1496.

The scope of the third expedition, which started in 1498, was much smaller - only six ships. The discovery of South America began with the third expedition. This expedition was interrupted in 1500 for the reason that Columbus was arrested and sent to Castile, but when he arrived there, he was completely acquitted.

Already at this moment appeared great amount those people who wanted to appropriate the brilliant discovery of Christopher Columbus. In 1502, Columbus struggles to get sponsored again for yet another search for a short, sea route to India. During this expedition, he discovered the shores of modern Honduras, Costa Rica, Panama, and so on. But in 1503, Columbus's ship was wrecked, which forced him to stop the expedition in 1504, returning to Castile.

After that, Christopher Columbus never returned to America.

However, as further study of history showed, it was not Christopher Columbus who first set foot on the lands of a new continent, this was done long before his birth.

And yes, in general, humanity began to populate America only in 30 thousand years BC. e.

And they discovered it for the first time, although they did not know that it was a whole continent, none other than the masters of the seas - the Vikings, back in the 10th century.

The discoverer should be considered Leif Eriksson. Leif is the son of Eric the Red, a Viking and navigator who discovered Greenland.
This fact is confirmed by traces of a Viking settlement found in L'Ans-o-Meadows (the current territory of Newfoundland and Labrador (which is in Canada)).

As for the travel of Columbus, he himself believed that he discovered not a new continent, but the shores of Asia. And only in his last years, he realized that he had discovered a new continent.

The open continent was named after one of the main explorers of the New World - Amerigo Vespucci. This memorable event took place in 1507, from that moment the continent was considered independent.

There are also several hypotheses in history that other navigators could have discovered America. The most popular hypotheses are:
- in the fourth century BC. e. it could have been discovered by the Phoenicians;
- in the sixth century AD. e. it could be the Irish monk Brendan;
- around 1421, the Chinese navigator Zheng He;

However, there is no confirmation of this yet.

Christopher Columbus - medieval navigator who discovered Sargasso and caribbean, Antilles, Bahamas and the Americas for Europeans, the first of famous travelers, swam across Atlantic Ocean.

According to various sources, Christopher Columbus was born in 1451 in Genoa, in what is now Corsica. Six Italian and Spanish cities claim the right to be called his homeland. Almost nothing is reliably known about the childhood and youth of the navigator, and the origin of the Columbus family is just as vague.

Some researchers call Columbus an Italian, others believe that his parents were baptized Jews, Marranos. This assumption explains the incredible level of education at that time that Christopher, who came from a family of an ordinary weaver and a housewife, received.

According to some historians and biographers, Columbus studied at home until the age of 14, while he had brilliant knowledge in mathematics, knew several languages, including Latin. The boy had three younger brothers and a sister, all of whom were taught by visiting teachers. One of the brothers, Giovanni, died in childhood, sister Bianchella grew up and married, and Bartolomeo and Giacomo accompanied Columbus on his wanderings.

Most likely, Columbus was given all possible assistance by fellow believers, rich Genoese financiers from the Marranos. With their help, a young man from a poor family got into the University of Padua.

Being an educated person, Columbus was familiar with the teachings of ancient Greek philosophers and thinkers who depicted the Earth as a ball, and not a flat pancake, as was believed in the Middle Ages. However, such thoughts, like the Jewish origin during the Inquisition, which raged in Europe, had to be carefully hidden.

At the university, Columbus became friends with students and teachers. One of his close friends was the astronomer Toscanelli. According to his calculations, it turned out that to the cherished India, full of untold riches, it was much closer to sail in a westerly direction, and not in an eastern one, skirting Africa. Later, Christopher made his own calculations, which, being incorrect, confirmed Toscanelli's hypothesis. Thus was born the dream of western travel, and Columbus devoted his whole life to her.

Even before entering the university, at the age of fourteen, Christopher Columbus experienced the hardships of sea travel. The father arranged for his son to work on one of the trading schooners to learn the art of navigation, trade skills, and from that moment the biography of Columbus the navigator started.

Columbus made his first voyages as a cabin boy mediterranean sea where trade and economic routes between Europe and Asia intersected. At the same time, European merchants knew about the riches and gold placers of Asia and India from the words of the Arabs, who resold them wonderful silks and spices from these countries.

The young man listened to extraordinary stories from the mouths of eastern merchants and was inflamed with a dream to reach the shores of India in order to find her treasures and get rich.

Expeditions

In the 70s of the 15th century, Columbus married Felipe Moniz from a wealthy Italo-Portuguese family. The father-in-law of Christopher, who settled in Lisbon and sailed under the Portuguese flag, was also a navigator. After his death he left nautical charts, diaries and other documents that were inherited by Columbus. According to them, the traveler continued to study geography, at the same time studying the works of Piccolomini, Pierre de Ailly,.

Christopher Columbus took part in the so-called northern expedition, in which his path passed through British Isles and Iceland. Presumably, there the navigator heard the Scandinavian sagas and stories about the Vikings, Erik the Red and Leyve Eriksson, who reached the coast " big land, sailed across the Atlantic Ocean.

The route that made it possible to get to India by the western route was compiled by Columbus in 1475. He presented an ambitious plan to conquer the new land to the court of the Genoese merchants, but did not meet with support.

A few years later, in 1483, Christopher made a similar proposal to the Portuguese king João II. The king assembled a scientific council, which reviewed the Genoese project and found his calculations incorrect. Frustrated, but resilient, Columbus left Portugal and moved to Castile.

In 1485, the navigator requested an audience with the Spanish monarchs, Ferdinand and Isabella of Castile. The couple received him favorably, listened to Columbus, who tempted them with the treasures of India, and, just like the Portuguese ruler, convened scientists for advice. The commission did not support the navigator, since the possibility of a western path implied the sphericity of the Earth, which was contrary to the teachings of the church. Columbus was almost declared a heretic, but the king and queen had mercy and decided to postpone the final decision until the end of the war with the Moors.

Columbus, who was driven not so much by a thirst for discovery as by a desire to get rich, carefully hiding the details of the planned trip, sent messages to the English and French monarchs. Charles and Henry did not answer the letters, being too busy with domestic politics, but the Portuguese king sent an invitation to the navigator to continue discussing the expedition.

When Christopher announced this in Spain, Ferdinand and Isabella agreed to equip a squadron of ships to search for a western route to India, although the impoverished Spanish treasury had no funds for this enterprise. The monarchs promised Columbus a title of nobility, the title of admiral and viceroy of all the lands that he had to discover, and he had to borrow money from Andalusian bankers and merchants.

Four Expeditions of Columbus

The first expedition of Christopher Columbus took place in 1492-1493. On three ships, the Pinta caravels (owned by Martin Alonso Pinson) and Nina and the four-masted Santa Maria sailboat, the navigator passed through the Canary Islands, crossed the Atlantic Ocean, opening the Sargasso Sea along the way, and reached the Bahamas. On October 12, 1492, Columbus set foot on the island of Saman, which he named San Salvador. This date is considered the day of the discovery of America.
The second expedition of Columbus took place in 1493-1496. In this campaign, the Lesser Antilles, Dominica, Haiti, Cuba, Jamaica were discovered.
The third expedition refers to the period from 1498 to 1500. A flotilla of six ships reached the islands of Trinidad and Margarita, marking the beginning of the discovery of South America, and ended in Haiti.
During the fourth expedition, Christopher Columbus sailed to Martinique, visited the Gulf of Honduras and explored the coast Central America along the Caribbean Sea.

Discovery of America

The process of discovering the New World dragged on for many years. The most amazing thing is that Columbus, being a convinced discoverer and an experienced navigator, believed until the end of his days that he had opened the way to Asia. The Bahamas, discovered in the first expedition, he considered part of Japan, after which wonderful China was to open, and after it - the cherished India.

What did Columbus discover and why did the new continent get the name of another traveler? The list of discoveries made by the great traveler and navigator includes San Salvador, Cuba and Haiti, belonging to the Bahamas, the Sargasso Sea.

Seventeen ships, led by the flagship Maria Galante, went on the second expedition. This type of ship with a displacement of two hundred tons and other ships carried not only sailors, but also colonialists, livestock, and supplies. All this time, Columbus was convinced that he had discovered the Western Indies. At the same time, the Antilles, Dominica and Guadeloupe were discovered.

The third expedition brought the ships of Columbus to the continent, but the navigator was disappointed: he never found India with its gold placers. From this journey, Columbus returned in shackles, accused of a false denunciation. Before entering the port, the fetters were removed from him, but the navigator lost the promised titles and titles.

The last journey of Christopher Columbus ended with a crash off the coast of Jamaica and a serious illness of the leader of the campaign. He returned home sick, unhappy and broken by failures. Amerigo Vespucci was a close associate and follower of Columbus, who undertook four voyages in New World. A whole continent is named after him, and one country in South America is named after Columbus, who never reached India.

Personal life

According to the biographers of Christopher Columbus, the first of whom was his own son, the navigator was married twice. The first marriage with Felipe Moniz was legal. The wife gave birth to a son, Diego. In 1488 Columbus had a second son, Fernando, from a relationship with a woman named Beatriz Henriques de Arana.

The navigator equally took care of both sons, and even took the youngest with him on an expedition when the boy was thirteen years old. Fernando was the first to write a biography famous traveler.

Christopher Columbus with his wife Felipe Moniz

Subsequently, both sons of Columbus became influential people and took high positions. Diego was the fourth Viceroy of New Spain and Admiral of the Indies, and his descendants were titled Marquesses of Jamaica and Dukes of Veragua.

Fernando Columbus, who became a writer and scientist, enjoyed the favor of the Spanish emperor, lived in a marble palace and had an annual income of up to 200,000 francs. These titles and wealth went to the descendants of Columbus in recognition of his services to the crown by the Spanish monarchs.

Death

After the discovery of America from the last expedition, Columbus returned to Spain a terminally ill, aged man. In 1506, the discoverer of the New World died in poverty in a small house in Valladolid. Columbus used his savings to pay the debts of the members of the last expedition.

Tomb of Christopher Columbus

Soon after the death of Christopher Columbus, the first ships began to arrive from America, loaded with gold, which the navigator so dreamed of. Many historians agree that Columbus knew that he had discovered not Asia or India, but a new, unexplored continent, but did not want to share glory and treasures with anyone, to which there was one step left.

The appearance of the enterprising discoverer of America is known from photos in history books. Several films have been made about Columbus, the last film being co-produced by France, England, Spain and the USA “1492: The Conquest of Paradise”. Monuments to this great man were erected in Barcelona and Granada, and his ashes were transported from Seville to Haiti.

The era of great geographical discoveries completely transformed the Europeans' understanding of the world. New continents, islands, straits began to appear on the maps. It was at this glorious time that the discovery of America by Columbus took place - an event that still causes a lot of controversy, speculation and even myths. In the period from the 15th to the 17th centuries, hitherto unseen foods, spices, jewelry, and fabrics were discovered in Europe. The great navigators were glorified, they were honored with ranks and important positions. However, this was not the case for everyone.

Discovery of America: historical information

The first journey of the cartographer, navigator and discoverer of America - Christopher Columbus, to the shores of the new continent began in 1492 (August 3). Three ships sailed from Spain into the unknown. Their names are forever preserved in the tablets of history: "Santa Maria", "Pinta", "Nina". More than two months the team and myself great navigator endured deprivation. "On the way" (September 16), the expedition discovered a new geographical object - the Sargasso Sea, which hit Columbus and his companions with unprecedented masses of green algae.

Santa Maria, Pinta, Nina - schooners on which the expedition of Columbus discovered America

On October 12 (13?) the caravels moored to the shore. Christopher Columbus and other participants in the journey were sure that they had finally reached India, because that was precisely the purpose of the expedition. In fact, the Spaniards landed on the island of San Salvador. However, the significant day is officially considered the date of the discovery of America.

Portrait of Christopher Columbus - the discoverer of America, a Spanish subject

Stepping ashore, Christopher Columbus, the greatest, most mysterious and unfortunate, as it turned out later, navigator of the Age of Discovery, hoisted a Castilian banner on an unknown piece of land and immediately declared himself the discoverer and formal owner of the island. Even a notarial deed was drawn up. Columbus was sure that he landed in the vicinity of China, Japan or India. In a word, Asia. That is why for a very long time cartographers called the Bahamas the West Indies.

Landing of Columbus on the coast of America. Local natives mistook Spanish sailors for gods

For two weeks, the caravels stubbornly moved south, skirting the shores of South America. Christopher Columbus marked on the map the new islands of the Bahamas archipelago: Cuba and Haiti, which his fleet reached on December 6, but already on December 25 the Santa Maria ran aground. The grandiose expedition to unknown shores, which resulted in the discovery of America, has come to an end. Nina returned to Castile on March 15, 1493. Together with Columbus, the natives arrived in Europe, whom the navigator brought with him - they began to be called. Caravels brought potatoes, corn, tobacco to Spain - unprecedented products from another continent. But the discoveries of Columbus did not end there.

Discovery of America: the continuation of the sea voyages of Columbus

The second expedition of Christopher Columbus, who discovered America, lasted 3 years (1493-1496). The great navigator of the Age of Discovery headed it already in the rank of admiral. He was granted the position of Viceroy of America, or rather those lands that he managed to discover during the first sea voyage. Not three caravels set sail from the Spanish shores, as for the first time, but a whole fleet, consisting of 17 ships. The crew number was 1.5 thousand people. During this journey, Columbus discovered Guadeloupe, the island of Dominica and Jamaica, Antigua and Puerto Rico, completing the voyage by June 11, 1496.

Columbus travel routes to the coast of America

Interesting fact. The third sea voyage of Columbus to America was not so brilliant. He managed to discover “only” the islands of Trinidad and Margarita, discover the mouth of the Orinoco River and the Paria Peninsula, which became an important milestone in the discovery of America.

But Columbus didn't stop there. He obtained permission from the royal couple to organize another expedition to the mysterious continent. The fourth and, as it turned out, the last expedition in the life of Columbus to the shores of America lasted 2 years (1502-1504). The great navigator set off on a journey with 4 ships, and during the campaign he discovered Honduras, Costa Rica, Panama. In 1503 (June 25) the flotilla was wrecked off the coast of Jamaica.

Parting words of the august persons of Spain before the departure of the expedition of Columbus

Only in 1504 the great Christopher Columbus returned to Castile. Sick, emaciated, practically impoverished. A man who had replenished the treasury of the crowned heads of Spain all his life spent all his savings on equipment for a rescue expedition for the crew of one of his caravels. In 1506, the great navigator of the Age of Discovery and the man who discovered America died in poverty. The public learned about his death only 27 years later.

Discovery of America: Little-Known Facts

Why America discovered by Columbus, received the name of another person who was not a navigator? It was Amerigo Vespucci, a merchant, a member of a sea expedition to the shores of South America, who was the first to suggest that the new continent was by no means Asia, but an unknown land. The enterprising businessman was not slow to inform the cartographers and the "powerful of this world" in letters about his guess. In 1506, an atlas was published in France, where new earth, and she bore the name - Amerigo. A little later, a division into the Central and Northern parts appeared.

The first meeting of the Spanish navigators with the Indians of America

Interesting fact. It is generally accepted that Christopher Columbus discovered America on October 12th. In fact, at this time he landed in the Bahamas, but he reached the continent only a month later. Only during the second expedition was America discovered - in 1493, when the shores of a new land were reached - Colombia, which bears the name of the navigator.

Before Christopher Columbus, a huge number of ships moored to the shores of America. This is not fiction, but a proven fact. We can assume that the Norwegian Vikings discovered America, and this happened several centuries before the first expedition of the great navigator. The sites of brave warriors were found on the territory of modern Canada.

Santa Maria - the ship of Columbus, on which he discovered America

Another version, not without foundation, says that the Templars discovered America. The knights of the Order, founded back in 1118, constantly made pilgrimages around the world on their ships. During one of the wanderings, they moored to the shores of the new continent.

Interesting fact. It was the Templar fleet that served as the basis of the world pirate flotilla. The flag familiar to everyone - a black cloth with a skull and bones - is the battle banner of the knights of the ancient Order.

The Incas and Maya were the first natives that Columbus met when he discovered America.

Is there evidence that it was the Templars who discovered America? If we do not take into account the fact that it was after several trips to the shores of an unknown continent that the treasury of the Order was significantly replenished, then we can turn to more substantial evidence. In the small town of Roslyn (near Edinburgh) there is an ancient chapel. Among the images that adorn its walls are drawings of maize and aloe, typical representatives of the flora of the American continent. The construction of the chapel was completed long before Columbus discovered America.

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Christopher Columbus is the discoverer of South and Central America. Expeditions of Columbus.

Christopher Columbus biography

1 expedition. Discovery of America by Columbus in 1492

The first expedition Christopher Columbus assembled from three ships - "Santa Maria" (three-masted flagship 25 m long, with a displacement of 120 tons, captain of the ship Columbus), caravels "Pinta" (captain - Martin Alonso Pinzon) and "Nina" (captain - Vicente Yagnez Pinson) with a displacement of 55 tons and 87 people of the expedition personnel.
The flotilla left Palos on August 3, 1492, from canary islands turned west, crossed the Atlantic Ocean, opening the Sargasso Sea and reached an island in the Bahamas October 12, 1492). Columbus landed on the coast, which the locals call Guanahani, hoisted a banner on it, declared the open land the property of the Spanish king, and formally took possession of the island. The island was named San Salvador.
For a long time (1940-1982) Watling Island was considered San Salvador. However, our contemporary American geographer George Judge in 1986 processed all the collected materials on a computer and came to the conclusion that the first American land seen by Columbus was Samana Island (120 km southeast of Watling).
On October 14-24, Columbus approached several more Bahamas, and on October 28 - December 5, he discovered part of the northeast coast of Cuba. December 6 reached the island of Haiti and moved along the northern coast. On the night of December 25, the flagship Santa Maria landed on a reef, but the crew escaped. For the first time in the history of navigation, on the orders of Columbus, Indian hammocks were adapted for sailor bunks.
Columbus returned to Castile on the Nina on March 15, 1493. From America, Columbus brought seven captive American natives, who were called Indians in Europe, as well as some gold and plants and fruits hitherto unknown in the Old World, including an annual corn plant (in Haiti it is called maize), tomatoes, peppers, tobacco (“ dry leaves, which were especially prized local residents”), pineapples, cocoa and potatoes (because of its beautiful pink and white flowers). The political resonance of Columbus's voyage was the "papal meridian": the head of the Catholic Church established a demarcation line in the Atlantic, indicating different directions for the discovery of new lands to rival Spain and Portugal.
The first landing of Christopher Columbus on the shores of the New World: in San Salvador, Wisconsin, October 12, 1492.
Author of the painting: Spanish artist Tolin Puebla, Theophilus Dioscor Dioscoro Teofilo Puebla Tolin (1831-1901)
Publisher: American firm Currier and Ives (engravings, lithography, popular prints), publication 1892.

2 expedition of Christopher Columbus (1493 - 1496)

The second expedition (1493-96), led by Admiral Columbus, in the position of Viceroy of the newly discovered lands, consisted of 17 ships with a crew of 1.5-2.5 thousand people. On November 3-15, 1493, Columbus discovered the islands of Dominica, Guadeloupe and about 20 Lesser Antilles, on November 19, the island of Puerto Rico. In March 1494, in search of gold, he made a military campaign deep into the island of Haiti, in the summer he discovered the southeastern and southern coasts of Cuba, the islands of Youth and Jamaica. For 40 days, Columbus explored the southern coast of Haiti, the conquest of which continued in 1495. But in the spring of 1496 he sailed home, completing his second voyage on June 11 in Castile. Columbus announced the discovery of a new route to Asia. The colonization of new lands by free settlers, which began soon, was very expensive for the Spanish crown, and Columbus proposed to populate the islands with criminals, halving their sentence. With fire and sword, plundering and destroying the country of ancient culture, Cortez's military detachments passed through the land of the Aztecs - Mexico, and Pizarro's detachments passed through the land of the Incas - Peru.

3 expedition of Christopher Columbus (1498 - 1499)

The third expedition (1498-99) consisted of six ships, three of which Columbus himself led across the Atlantic. On July 31, 1498, he discovered the island of Trinidad, entered the Gulf of Paria, discovered the mouth of the western arm of the Orinoco Delta and the Paria Peninsula, marking the beginning of the discovery of South America. Having entered the Caribbean Sea, he approached the Araya Peninsula, discovered the island of Margarita on August 15 and arrived in Haiti on August 31. In 1500, upon a denunciation, Christopher Columbus was arrested and, shackled (which he then kept for the rest of his life), was sent to Castile, where he was expected to be released.

4 expedition of Christopher Columbus (1502 - 1504)

Dioscoro Pueblo. "The Landing of Columbus in America" (1862 painting)

Discovery of America- an event as a result of which a new part of the world became known to the inhabitants of the Old World - America, consisting of two continents.

Expeditions of Christopher Columbus

1st expedition

The first expedition of Christopher Columbus (1492-1493), consisting of 91 people on the ships Santa Maria, Pinta, Nina, left Pálos de la Frontera on August 3, 1492, turned from the Canary Islands to West (September 9), crossed the Atlantic Ocean in the subtropical zone and reached the island of San Salvador in the Bahamas, where Christopher Columbus landed on October 12, 1492 (the official date of the discovery of America). On October 14-24, Christopher Columbus visited a number of other Bahamas, and on October 28-December 5, he discovered and explored a section of the northeast coast of Cuba. On December 6, Columbus reached Fr. Haiti and moved along the north coast. On the night of December 25, the flagship Santa Maria landed on a reef, but people escaped. Columbus on the ship "Nina" on January 4-16, 1493 completed the survey of the northern coast of Haiti and on March 15 returned to Castile.

2nd expedition

The 2nd expedition (1493-1496), which Christopher Columbus led already in the rank of admiral, and in the position of viceroy of the newly discovered lands, consisted of 17 ships with a crew of over 1.5 thousand people. November 3, 1493 Columbus discovered the islands of Dominica and Guadeloupe, turning to the North-West - about 20 more Small Antilles, including Antigua and the Virgin Islands, and on November 19 - the island of Puerto Rico and approached the northern coast of Haiti. On March 12-29, 1494, in search of gold, Columbus made an aggressive campaign into Haiti, and crossed the Cordillera Central ridge. On April 29-May 3, Columbus with 3 ships passed along the southeastern coast of Cuba, turned from Cape Cruz to the South, and on May 5 discovered about. Jamaica. Returning on May 15 to Cape Cruz, Columbus walked along south coast Cuba to 84° west longitude, discovered the Jardines de la Reina archipelago, the Zapata peninsula and the island of Pinos. On June 24, Christopher Columbus turned east and surveyed the entire southern coast of Haiti on August 19-September 15. In 1495 Christopher Columbus continued the conquest of Haiti; March 10, 1496 left the island and June 11 returned to Castile.

3rd expedition

The 3rd expedition (1498-1500) consisted of 6 vessels, 3 of which Christopher Columbus himself led across the Atlantic Ocean near 10 ° north latitude. On July 31, 1498, he discovered the island of Trinidad, entered the Gulf of Paria from the south, discovered the mouth of the western arm of the Orinoco River Delta and the Paria Peninsula, marking the beginning of the discovery of South America. Then leaving for the Caribbean Sea, Christopher Columbus approached the Araya Peninsula, discovered the island of Margarita on August 15, and on August 31 arrived in the city of Santo Domingo (on the island of Haiti). In 1500, Christopher Columbus was arrested on a denunciation and sent to Castile, where he was released.

4th expedition

4th expedition (1502-1504). Having obtained permission to continue searching for a western route to India, Columbus with 4 ships reached the island of Martinique on June 15, 1502, and the Gulf of Honduras on July 30, and discovered from August 1, 1502 to May 1, 1503 the Caribbean coast of Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama to Uraba Bay. Turning then to the North, June 25, 1503 was wrecked off the island of Jamaica; help from Santo Domingo came only a year later. Christopher Columbus returned to Castile on November 7, 1504.

Candidates for pioneers

The first people who settled in America are the native Indians, who crossed there about 30 thousand years ago from Asia along the Bering Isthmus.
In the 10th century, around 1000, the Vikings led by Leif Eriksson. L'Anse aux Meadows has the remains of a Viking settlement on the continent. This historical and archaeological site (L'Anse-au-Meadows) is recognized by scientists as evidence of transoceanic contacts that took place before the discovery made by Columbus.
In 1492 - Christopher Columbus (Genoese in the service of Spain); Columbus himself believed that he opened the way to Asia (hence the name West Indies, Indians).
In 1507, the cartographer M. Waldseemüller suggested that open lands were named America in honor of the explorer of the New World Amerigo Vespucci - this is considered the moment from which America was recognized as an independent continent.
There are good reasons to believe that the continent was named after the English patron Richard America from Bristol, who financed the second transatlantic expedition of John Cabot in 1497, and Vespucci took his nickname in honor of the already named continent [ ] . In May 1497, Cabot reached the shores of Labrador, becoming the first officially recorded European to set foot on the North American continent. Cabot mapped the coast North America from Nova Scotia to Newfoundland. In the Bristol calendar for that year we read: “... on St. John the Baptist was found in the land of America by merchants from Bristol, who arrived on a ship from Bristol with the name "Matthew" ("metik").

Hypothetical

In addition, hypotheses were put forward about visiting America and contact with its civilization by seafarers before Columbus, representing various civilizations of the Old World (for more details, see Contacts with America before Columbus). Here are just a few of these hypothetical contacts:

in 371 BC. e. - Phoenicians
in the 5th century - Hui Shen (a Taiwanese Buddhist monk who traveled to the country in the 5th century