Christopher Columbus was born in 1451 in Italy to the son of a weaver. He took to sea as a teenager on trading voyages in the Mediterranean. His first voyage on the Atlantic Ocean at age 25 almost resulted in his death after an attack. The ship was sunk and he was forced to swim to Portugal where he settled. Later, his ships and money were provided by Spain and in 1492 he sailed across the Atlantic into the “new world.” While looking for sea passage to India, his goals were twofold: open trade routes and spread the word of Christianity. He sailed with the three famous ships: Nina, Pinta and Santa Maria and eventually made landfall somewhere near the Bahamas which was the closest he came to the mainland North America. He became revered as the “Admiral of the Ocean Seas” and a great explorer.
