Christopher Columbus
Christopher Columbus (1451—May 20, 1506) was an explorer and trader who crossed the Atlantic Ocean and reached the Americas in 1492 under the flag of Castilian Spain.
He believed that the earth was a relatively small sphere, and argued that a ship could reach the Far East via a westward course.
Unlike the voyage of the Vikings, Columbus's voyages led to a relatively quick, general and lasting recognition of the existence of the New World by the Old World, the Columbian Exchange of species and the first large-scale colonization of the Americas by Europeans.
It has generally been accepted that he was Genoese, although doubts have persistently been voiced regarding this. His name in Spanish is Cristóbal Colón, in Portuguese Cristóvão Colombo and in Italian Cristoforo Colombo. Columbus is a Latinate form of his surname. The Latin roots of his name can be translated "Christ-bearer, Colonizer." Columbus signature reads Xp ferens ("Bearing Christ")
Columbus claimed governorship of the new territories (by prior agreement with the Spanish monarchs) and made several more journeys across the Atlantic. While regarded by some as an excellent navigator, he was seen by many contemporaries as a poor administrator and was stripped of his governorship in 1500.
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