Christopher Columbus was born in 1451 in Genoa. An Italian navigator from Genoa in the service of Spain, Columbus believed that he could reach Asia by sailing west across the Atlantic. Backed by Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand, he left Spain in 1492 with three ships and made landfall in the Bahamas, then explored Cuba and Hispaniola. He made three more voyages to the Caribbean and the coast of Central and South America, never realising that he had reached a continent unknown to Europeans. His voyages began the lasting contact between Europe and the Americas and the Spanish colonisation, which brought catastrophe to Indigenous peoples, and his legacy is much debated.
Before and after
- c. 1450sGutenberg Bible
- from May 1450 to July 1450Jack Cade's Rebellion
- from 1451 to 1526Lodi dynasty
- from 1451 to 1950Construction of Berlin Palace
- 1451Birth of Christopher Columbus
- 7 January 1451Founding of University of Glasgow
- 22 April 1451Birth of Isabella I of Castile
- 15 April 1452Birth of Leonardo da Vinci
- 21 September 1452Birth of Girolamo Savonarola
More in Exploration & discovery
- from 629 CE to 645 CEXuanzang travels from China to India
- 1298The Travels of Marco Polo
- c. 1469Birth of Vasco da Gama
- 1480Birth of Ferdinand Magellan
- 31 December 1491Birth of Jacques Cartier
- 24 June 1497John Cabot reaches North America
The era
This moment belongs to the Medieval world (500 CE to 1500 CE), kingdoms, faiths and trade routes. You can also browse everything in the 15th century.