Columbus, Christopher (1451-1506) - Born in Genoa, at the time the capital of an independent region on the northwest coast of Italy, Columbus is the best known of the European explorers of the 15th and 16th centuries. In 1492 he convinced Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand of Spain that Asia and all its riches could be reached by sailing west. Columbus did not reach Asia but he did become the first European to discover the islands of the Caribbean. He made three other voyages to the New World between 1493 and 1504 exploring the coasts of Cuba, Hispaniola, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, and portions of Central and South America. Columbus died of an unknown disease in Spain in 1506.
