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In 1492, a Spanish-based transatlantic maritime expedition led by Italian explorer Christopher Columbus encountered the Americas, continents which were virtually unknown to and outside of the Old World political and economic system. The four voyages of Columbus led to the widespread knowledge that a continent existed west of Europe and east of Asia. This breakthrough in geographical knowledge inaugurated a period of exploration, conquest, colonization, biological exchange, and trans-Atlantic trade, the effects and consequences of which persist to the present, and are sometimes cited as the beginning of the modern era.

Columbus was an Italian-born navigator sailing for the Crown of Castile (Spain) in search of a westward route to the Indies, the vaguely rumored East Asian sources of spices and other precious oriental goods obtainable only through arduous overland routes. Although he did not realize it, this search failed when he encountered the New World between Europe and Asia. Columbus made a total of four voyages to the Americas between 1492 and 1502.

At the time of Columbus' voyages, the Americas were inhabited by Indigenous Americans, descendants of Paleo-Indians who crossed Beringia from Asia to settle in North America beginning around 20,000 years ago.[2] Soon after first contact, Eurasian diseases such as smallpox began to devastate the indigenous populations, which had no immunity to them. The intercontinental epidemiological transfer was accompanied by transoceanic transfers of crops, livestock, pests, and wildlife.

In 1513, the search for a westward route to Asia continued when Vasco Nuñez de Balboa crossed the narrow Isthmus of Panama to become the first European to sight the Pacific Ocean from the shores of the New World. The search was completed in 1521, when the Castilian (Spanish) Magellan expedition sailed across the Pacific and reached Southeast Asia, returning to Europe after sailing further West and achieving the first circumnavigation of the world....
 
 
In 1492, a Spanish-based transatlantic maritime expedition led by Italian explorer Christopher Columbus encountered the Americas, continents which were virtually unknown to and outside of the Old World political and economic system. The four voyages of Columbus led to the widespread knowledge that a continent existed west of Europe and east of Asia. This breakthrough in geographical knowledge inaugurated a period of exploration, conquest, colonization, biological exchange, and trans-Atlantic trade, the effects and consequences of which persist to the present, and are sometimes cited as the beginning of the modern era.

Columbus was an Italian-born navigator sailing for the Crown of Castile (Spain) in search of a westward route to the Indies, the vaguely rumored East Asian sources of spices and other precious oriental goods obtainable only through arduous overland routes. Although he did not realize it, this search failed when he encountered the New World between Europe and Asia. Columbus made a total of four voyages to the Americas between 1492 and 1502.

At the time of Columbus' voyages, the Americas were inhabited by Indigenous Americans, descendants of Paleo-Indians who crossed Beringia from Asia to settle in North America beginning around 20,000 years ago.[2] Soon after first contact, Eurasian diseases such as smallpox began to devastate the indigenous populations, which had no immunity to them. The intercontinental epidemiological transfer was accompanied by transoceanic transfers of crops, livestock, pests, and wildlife.

In 1513, the search for a westward route to Asia continued when Vasco Nuñez de Balboa crossed the narrow Isthmus of Panama to become the first European to sight the Pacific Ocean from the shores of the New World. The search was completed in 1521, when the Castilian (Spanish) Magellan expedition sailed across the Pacific and reached Southeast Asia, returning to Europe after sailing further West and achieving the first circumnavigation of the world.... More • http://en.wikipedia. ... r_Columbus View • BooksImagesVideosSearch Related • DiscoveriesMigrationsAmericaBahamasCaribbeanExplorationRenaissanceSpainAll EventsLatin AmericaSouth America15th CenturyAtlantic Ocean

 
    Columbus, Discovers America - 1492
  Columbus, Discovers America - 1492
Christopher Columbus was an explorer, colonizer, and navigator, born in the Republic of Genoa, in northwestern Italy. Under the auspices of the Catholic Monarchs of Spain, he completed four voyages across the Atlantic Ocean that led to general Europe...
 
    Isabella, Queen of Spain
  Isabella, Queen of Spain
Isabella I was Queen of Castile and León. She and her husband Ferdinand II of Aragon brought stability to both kingdoms that became the basis for the unification of Spain. Later the two laid the foundations for the political unification of Spain unde...
 
    Ferdinand II, King of Aragón
  Ferdinand II, King of Aragón
Ferdinand II, called the Catholic, was in his own right the King of Sicily from 1468 and King of Aragon from 1479. As a consequence of his marriage to Isabella I, he was King of Castile jure uxoris as Ferdinand V from 1474 until her death in 1504. He...
 
    Amerigo Vespucci, Namegiver of America
  Amerigo Vespucci, Namegiver of America
America is named after Amerigo Vespucci, who was the first European to suggest that the Americas were not the East Indies. Amerigo Vespucci was an Italian merchant and cartographer who voyaged to and wrote about the Americas. His exploratory journeys...
 
    Juan Ponce de León, First Expedition to Florida, 1513
  Juan Ponce de León, First Expedition to Florida, 1513
Juan Ponce de León was a Spanish explorer and conquistador. He became the first Governor of Puerto Rico by appointment of the Spanish crown. He led the first known European expedition to La Florida, which he named during his first voyage to the area...
 
    Balboa, Reaches Pacific Ocean - 1513
  Balboa, Reaches Pacific Ocean - 1513
Vasco Núñez de Balboa was a Spanish conquistador who founded the colony of Darién in Panama, the oldest extant European settlement in the mainland of the Americas. He crossed the Isthmus in search of gold, reaching the Pacific Ocean after a 25-day ex...
 
    Magellan, Circled the Globe - 1521
  Magellan, Circled the Globe - 1521
Ferdinand Magellan was a Portuguese explorer who organised the Spanish expedition to the East Indies that resulted in the first circumnavigation of the Earth, completed by Juan Sebastián Elcano. He was born in a still disputed location in northern...
 
       
         
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