In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue….

Christopher Columbus was born in Genoa, Italy in 1451. That was 555

years ago!

As a young man, he was a sailor. He read books about geography,

history and travel.

Columbus had an idea to sail west to reach Asia.

Columbus asked King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain to

help him pay for his trip.

On August 3rd, 1492 Columbus set sail with three ships and 88 men.

His three ships were called the Nina, the Pinta and the Santa

Maria.

After two very long months at sea, land was sighted.

They named the new land San Salvador and claimed it for Spain.

San Salvador is a small island about 50 miles off the coast of

Florida.

Columbus thought he had found his way to India and named the people

he met there “Indians”.

This is a picture of what Columbus is thought to have looked like.

This is a statue to honor Christopher Columbus. He died in

1506 at the age of 55 in Spain.