Columbus Day
Columbus Day is a national holiday in the United States and in many other countries in the Americas. It celebrates Christopher Columbus's arrival in the Americas on October 12, 1492, and is observed on the second Monday of October.
Christopher Columbus was an Italian explorer and navigator who explored the Americas under the flag of Spain. By his twenties, Columbus had worked on merchant ships and traveled extensively across the Mediterranean Sea. He completed four voyages across the Atlantic Ocean.
Columbus wanted to find a new route to India, China, Japan, and the Spice Islands (the eastern part of Indonesia). If he could reach these lands, he would be able to bring back rich cargoes of silks and spices. He set sail believing he would reach Asia by heading west, but instead, he landed on an island in the Bahamas. The Bahamas are near the United States. It wasn't until his third voyage in 1498 that Columbus realized the lands he had discovered were not part of Asia, but a new continent.
The Voyages: On August 3, 1492, Columbus started his voyage across the Atlantic Ocean. With a crew of mainly Spanish sailors and three ships—the Niña, Pinta, and Santa Maria—he departed from Spain. Columbus’s voyages were sponsored by the Spanish monarchs Ferdinand II and Isabella I, aiming to find a westward route to Asia.
First Voyage (1492–1493): Columbus explored the Bahamas, Cuba, and Hispaniola. He believed he had reached islands off the coast of Asia, though in reality, he had encountered previously unknown lands.
Second Voyage (1493–1496): This voyage brought more ships and settlers to the Caribbean. Columbus explored more islands, including Puerto Rico, and established colonies.
Third Voyage (1498–1500): On this voyage, Columbus reached the mainland of South America at the Orinoco River.
Fourth Voyage (1502–1504): In his final expedition, Columbus explored Central America, but his fleet was battered by storms, and he never found a passage to Asia.
Legacy: Columbus’s voyages had a profound and lasting impact on world history. They initiated widespread contact between Europe and the Americas and led to the exchange of plants, animals, cultures, and populations between the Old World and the New. Columbus’s legacy is a complex and contested one, embodying both the spirit of exploration and the darker sides of imperial expansion.
It was Vasco da Gama, a explorer and nobleman, who arrived on the Western sea coast of India at Kozhikode (Calicut), Kerala, on May 20, 1498, two years after setting sail from Lisbon, Portugal.