Christopher Columbus was an Italian explorer whose 1492 voyage across the Atlantic Ocean, sponsored by Spain, initiated the first lasting European contact with the Americas. While he is historically credited with "discovering" the New World, he never realized he had reached a new continent, dying in 1506 with the firm belief that he had reached the outskirts of Asia. His expeditions launched an era of European exploration and colonization that fundamentally reshaped global history through the —the massive transfer of plants, animals, culture, and diseases between the Old and New Worlds. Quick Facts & Origins

Columbus completed four round-trip voyages between Spain and the Americas:

Went to sea at age 14, eventually traveling as far as the British Isles, Iceland, and West Africa.