Christopher Columbus was born in Genoa, Italy in 1451. He was the oldest of four children and had always wanted to sail around the world. After many years of convincing, King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain agreed to fund Columbus' expedition in 1492. On August 3rd, Columbus set sail from Spain with three ships and 90 crew members. After over two months at sea, land was spotted on October 12th and Columbus named the island San Salvador. He continued exploring the Caribbean, mapping many islands. However, Columbus struggled as a governor and returned to Spain after his first voyage, becoming a hero for discovering the New World.

2. Early Life
Christopher was born in Genoa, Italy 1451. His father was
called Domomenico Colombo and his mother was Susanna
Fontanarossa. Christopher father was a wool weaver and
later on he owned a cheese stand. Christopher had four
brothers, Bartolomeo, Giovanni, Pellegrino and Giacomo.
Christopher was the oldest of four children. When
Christopher was a boy he wanted to sail around the world.

3. Christopher convinced King Ferdinand ll and Queen Isabella to
supply him with ships and money. After eight years King
Ferdinand ll and Queen Isabella finally Agreed to supply
Christopher with ships and money. The three boats that
Christopher got was named the Santa Maria, the Pinto and
the Nina, he had 90 crew members. On the evening August
3rd 1492, Christopher left Palos with 90 crew members and
the three ships the Santa Maria, the Pinto and the Nina.
Christopher had expected that they will find land in four
weeks but the deadline came, crew members were starting to
argued to return to Spain. Christopher said “Three more days,
if we don’t find land in three more days we will return to
Spain.” On the second day one of Christopher’s crew member
spotted land. On 12 October 1492 Christopher went to shore
and named the island

4. San Salvador. It was probably one of the Plana Cays in the
Bahamas, the natives call it the Guanahani. At the Guanahani
Christopher met and traded with the Native Americans of the
Lucayan tribe. He also kidnapped lot of the natives to act as
guides before leaving two days later. He stopped in three islands
in the Bahamas in the next two weeks, which he named Santa
Maria De La Concepcion, Fernandina and Isabella.
Christopher spent weeks in Cuba searching for gold , or the
Chinese civilization he had read about from Marco Polo.
Christopher reached far west as Cayo Cruz on October 31 before
north winds and change. When Christopher returned back in
1493 Spain he became a hero for finding Islands and gold.
While sailing north to Cuba on November 22, while Martin
Alonso Pinzon captain of the Pinto, left with out permission
and sailed on his own to an island called Barbeque on his own

5. Redondo, Antigua and lot more in the Leeward islands and the
Lesser Antilles chains. He also visited Puerto Rico before he
went to Hispaniola.
Christopher found two towns of Isabella on the northern coast of
Hispaniola, Christopher spent the next five months to settle in
Hispaniola. Christopher left the settlement to his oldest son
Diego. He reached Cuba (which he discovered in his first
voyage) on April 30 and explored Cuba for a few days and
headed to Jamaica on May 5. He spent the next few weeks on
Jamaica but he returned to Isabella in August 20 1494.
Christopher became governor. Christopher was a good captain but
a lousy governor and he only had that job for a year.
Christopher returned to Spain in 1495.

6. . But Christopher Continued exploring with his two ships.
On Christmas Eve the Santa Maria grounded on a coral reef, it
sank the next day forcing Christopher to leave forty men
behind.

7. On his second voyage he had seven teen ships and over 1000 men
working for him, included in his voyage for the first time was
pigs, horses and cattle. Christopher’s commands were to expand
the settlement of Hispaniola. The fleet set sail on October 13 ,
1493, on November 3rd they spotted land.
The island they spotted was named Dominica by Christopher.
Christopher and some of his crew went to shore but they didn't
stay long because of the in habited caribs. Moving on they
discovered some other islands, including Guadalupe,
Montserrat,

8. The goal behind the third journey was bring supplies for the
settlement and explore further south. It was May 30, 1498
when Christopher left Spain. He left Spain with six ships.
Christopher lead his fleet to the Portuguese island of Porto
Santo, he then sailed to Madeira. Christopher landed on the
south coast of the island of Trinidad on 31 July. From 4
August through 12 August he explored the Gulf of Paria which
separates Trinidad from Venezuela. He explored the mainland
of South America, including the Orinoco River. He also sailed
to the islands of Chacachacare and Margarita Island and
sighted and named Tobago. Christopher was a good captain
but a lousy governor and he only had that job for a year.
Christopher returned to Spain in 1495.

9. Christopher made a fourth voyage. On May 11, 1502 , four old
ships 140 crew men set sail. Christopher’s brother Bartolomeo
and his 13 year old son Fernando joined him too. Christopher
was 51 on his fourth voyage. He sailed to Arzila on the
Moroccan coast to rescue the Portuguese soldiers who were being
besieged by the Moors. On June 15, they landed at Carbet on
the island of Martinique. A hurricane was forming so he
continued on, hoping to find shelter on Hispaniola After a
short stop at Jamaica, Christopher then sailed to central
America arriving at Guanaja in the Bay Islands off the
coast of Honduras. Christopher spent two months exploring
the coasts of Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica, before
arriving in Almirante Bay, Panama on October 16 1502.

10. As he was preparing to return to Spain, he took three of his
ships out of the river, leaving one with the garrison. April
6, a large force of Indians attacked the garrison. The
Spanish managed to hold off the attack, but lost a
number of men and realized that the garrison could not be
held for long. Columbus rescued the remaining members
of the garrison, losing one of his ships in the process. The
three remaining ships, now badly leaking from shipworm,
sailed for home on April 16. Off the coast of Cuba, they
were hit by another storm, the last of the ship's boats was
lost, and one of the caravels was so badly damaged that
she had to be taken in tow by the flagship. Both ships were
leaking very badly, and water continued to rise. Finally,
Christopher could no longer keep the ships going. The
Ships sank at St. Anne's Bay, Jamaica, on June 25, 1503.

11. Columbus and his men were stranded on Jamaica for a year.
Diego Mendez, one of Columbus's captains, bought a canoe
from a local chief and sailed it to Hispaniola. Columbus
returned home to Spain on November 7, 1504, his last
voyage complete.

12. Map of Christopher’s voyages

13. Sources
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Columbus
gardenofpraise.com/ibdcolum.htm
www.enchantedlearning.com/explorers/page/.../columb
us.shtml