BY Mohammed Omer Zahir
Christopher Columbus was born on 1451 in Genoa, Italy. He was an Italian explorer and sailor. Columbus was the oldest of five children. He belonged to the poor family. Christopher Columbus’s dad was a wool weaver merchant. Columbus made many voyages; as a result, he discovered many new places. His adventure began, when he was 13 to 14 years old, he went to the sea. He found food such as corn, sweet potatoes and pineapple.
Soon after that, Columbus found sea journey very exciting and soon he became a great sailor. It was about in 1492, that Columbus wanted to discover a new route to China. He was with the view that he could reach to China by sailing west but he was lacking money. He asked kings and queens for financial support.
In 1492, Christopher Columbus set sail on his first voyage from Spain. At first, he had three ships. He kept their names. They were called Nina, the Pinta and Santa Maria. His crew came from surrounding villages such as Lepe and Moguer. He carried on his journey for 69 days. While, sailing, he saw an island. He named the island San Salavador. In the region, he explored other islands as well. He discovered Cuba and Hispaniola. He thought that he reached Asia. So he called the people that he met in the Indian Islands.
It was the year 1493, when Christopher made his second voyage. That time he sailed with 17 ships and over a crew member populating well over thousand men.He discovered a new island and called it Dominica. Then he explored Puerto Rico, Jamaica and Southern Cuba. He established the first Spanish colony in Hispaniola. In 1496, he sailed back to Spain. This voyage proved to be very successful.
In 1498, he did his third expedition. This time he had only six ships. During this voyage he discovered the Trinity Island and the Coast of Venezuela. His fourth and last travel was in 1502. Having four ships this time, but the voyage proved to be very fruitful. He discovered Central America. Christopher Columbus explored the coasts of Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama.
Christopher Columbus died in 1506 in his homeland, Spain. Columbus’s cause of death was gout or Reiter’s Syndrome. Through his work, he proved that he was one of the World’s great explorer and sailor.
Published in Young Nation magazine on October 22, 2016