In the fifteenth century most people believed the world was flat and that monsters or the edge of the earth for anybody who sailed beyond known territory.
Educated people reasoned that the world must be round and Christopher Columbus was bold enough to prove this notion.
Portugal, Italy and England refused to support such a venture. At that time, spice merchants were looking for an easier route to Asia. The trip around the Cape of Good Hope was often deadly
Columbus Queen Isabella for help in 1486, was refused untill August 3, 1492. (He was persistant) With 90 men and 3 ships ( Santa Maria, Nina and Pinta, they sailed west.
The crew were becoming tires, sick and threatened to turn the ships back. Columbus kept his faith and leadewrship of the crew. On October 11th, ten o'clock at night, Columbus saw a light which was, in fact, land. The next morning at dawn they landed.
Christopher Columbus and his crew had expected to see people native to India. They called the first people they saw "Indians."
The island was called Guanahani. Columbus called it San Salvador and claimed it for Spain. They landed on Cuba, (they thought was Japan). Three more voyages, made him a rich and famous man, but he never knew what he discovered. Hundreds of years later. The continent was named after an Italian explorer named Amerigo Vespucci.