Christopher Columbus Misguided

Christopher Columbus is revered as one of the greatest explorers of the Age of Discovery. He is credited with discovering what is now America, although he never knew that. This report looks into the life of this great explorer, and his epic journey that changed the world and our lives. Columbus was born in Genoa, Italy somewhere between August and September of 1451. Christopher Columbus was one of the first of the major Spanish explorers. Although he made many discoveries for Spain, one should not be misguided, Columbus was of Italian decent.

Rejected by the Portuguese king for a three-ship voyage of discovery, Columbus took his plan first to Genoa and then to Venice but was rejected there, too. He then went to the Spanish monarchy of Isabella of Castille and Ferdinand of Aragon, in 1486. In August of 1492, Columbus left Spain in the Santa Maria, with the Pinta and the Niña along side. After 36 days of sailing, Columbus and several crewmen set foot on an island in the present day Bahamas, claiming it for Spain. There he encountered a timid but friendly group of natives who were open to trade with the sailors exchanging glass beads, cotton balls, parrots and spears. The Europeans also noticed bits of gold

He used magnetic compasses, nocturnals, maps, charts, celestial navigation, quadrants, and sand glasses. Sailors used the quadrant to measure the height of Polaris, or North Star. They learned from the Arabs that the height of the Polaris above the horizon changes depending on a person’s Latitude, the distance above or below the equator. Columbus also used a sandglass. This was used to keep track of time. The nocturnal was a navigational tool used to tell time by the celestial clock, or stars. One ring was set to the date, the Polaris was sighted through the hole in the center, and the arm was swung around to align with pointer stars - stars in the Big Dipper, Little Dipper, or