Christopher Columbus, Italian Cristoforo Colombo, Spanish Cristóbal Colón, was an Italian explorer who sailed across the Atlantic Ocean in 1492, hoping to find a route to India in order to trade for spices. He made a total of four trips to the Caribbean and South America during the years 1492-1504. Columbus remained convinced that he had found the lands that Marco Polo reached in his overland travels to China at the end of the 13th century. To Columbus it was only a matter of time before a passage was found through the Caribbean islands to the fabled cities of Asia. On the first trip Columbus sailed for King Ferdinand II and Queen Isabella of Spain. On his first trip, Columbus led an expedition with three ships, the Niña (captained by Vicente Yáñez Pinzon), the Pinta (owned and captained by Martin Alonzo Pinzon), and the Santa Maria (captained by Columbus), and about 90 crew members. They set sail on Aug. 3, 1492 from Palos, Spain, and on October 11, 1492, spotted the Caribbean islands off southeastern North America. They landed on an island they called Guanahani, but Columbus later renamed it San Salvador Columbus thought he had made it to Asia, and called this area the Indies, and called its inhabitants Indians.

While exploring the islands in the area and looking for gold to loot, Columbus' men traveled to the islands of Hispaniola (now divided into Haiti and the Dominican Republic), Cuba, and many other smaller islands. On the way back the Santa Maria crashed and the captain of the Pinta sailed off a different way thinking he was going to beat Columbus back. Columbus returned to Spain in the Nina, arriving on March 15, 1493.

On the second trip, a larger expedition Sept. 25, 1493-June 11, 1496, sailed with 17 ships and 1,200 to 1,500 men to find gold and capture Indians as slaves in the Indies. Columbus established a base in Hispaniola and sailed around Hispaniola and along the length of southern Cuba. He spotted and named the island of Dominica on November 3, 1493. The presence of some 1,300 salaried men with perhaps 200 private investors and a small troop of cavalry are testimony to the anticipations for the expedition. On a third expedition May 30, 1498-October 1500, Columbus sailed farther south, to Trinidad (named for the