Cristofo Colombo, also known as Christopher Columbus, was born in 1451 in Genoa, Italy. Columbus began his journeys at sea in his early teens, traveling to many ports around the Mediterranean.  “In one of his writings, he says he went to sea at the age of 10.” (Wikipedia 2017). Columbus married Felipa de Perestrello who was the daughter of a governor and nobleman. In 1480 Columbus had a son who he named Diego. Columbus worked for several years as a merchant mariner and sold products for other noble families of the region. In 1487, columbus met another girl named Beatriz Enríquez de Arana, who gave birth to Columbus’s illegitimate son Fernando.

Columbus was not the first European to arrive in the Americas. Vikings led by Leif Ericson in the 11th century were the first. Columbus’ main contributions in his four voyages were that he had brought the idea of a new uncolonized land to European attention.

Works Cited:

Badertscher, Eric. Christopher Columbus. Great Neck Publishing, 2009. Web. 6 Oct. 2017.

“Christopher Columbus.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 3 Oct. 2017, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Columbus.