Columbus Timeline
The Life of Christopher Columbus
From a boy in Italy to four trips across the Atlantic Ocean. The colours match the four voyages on the map in your book.
Before the big adventure
1451–1492- 1451
Columbus is born
He is born in Genoa, a city by the sea in Italy. His father makes cloth from wool.
- 1476
Shipwreck!
His ship is attacked near Portugal and sinks. Columbus swims to the coast and starts a new life in Lisbon.
- 1484
A wild idea
He wants to sail west to reach Asia and its spices. He asks the King of Portugal for ships. The answer is no.
- 1486–1492
Asking Spain
Columbus asks Queen Isabel and King Fernando of Spain for money. They wait for six years.
- April 1492
Spain says yes
Isabel and Fernando agree to pay for the trip.
The first voyage
1492–1493- 3 August 1492
Set sail!
Three ships leave Palos near Huelva in Spain: La Niña, La Pinta and Santa María. About 90 crew members are on board.
- 6 September 1492
Into the unknown
The ships leave the Canary Islands. Now there is only open sea. The crew is scared and wants to go home.
- 12 October 1492about 10 weeks after leaving Spain
“Land! Land!”
A sailor on La Pinta sees land. They step onto an island in the Bahamas. Columbus thinks he is in Asia.
- 28 October 1492
Cuba
Columbus reaches a big island: Cuba. He is sure it is part of China.
- 25 December 1492
A bad Christmas
The Santa María hits rocks near the island of Hispaniola (today Haiti and the Dominican Republic). The ship cannot be saved.
- 15 March 1493
Home again
Columbus returns to Spain as a hero. He brings plants, gold and parrots.
People already lived on the islands. They were called the Taíno. Columbus called them “Indians”, because he thought he was in India.
The second voyage
1493–1496- September 1493
A big fleet
This time Columbus sails with 17 ships and about 1,200 people. They bring horses, pigs, sheep and seeds to start farms.
The third voyage
1498–1500- 1498
A new continent
Columbus reaches the coast of South America (today Venezuela).
- 1500
In trouble
Columbus is a bad leader on Hispaniola. He is arrested and sent back to Spain as a prisoner.
The fourth voyage
1502–1504- 1502
One last trip
The king and queen let him sail one more time. He explores the coast of Central America (today Honduras and Panama).
- 1503–1504
Stuck on Jamaica
His ships are full of holes. Columbus and his crew are stuck on the island of Jamaica for one year before help comes.
The end
1506- 20 May 1506
Columbus dies
He dies in Valladolid in Spain. He still believes he found a way to Asia.
Around the year 1000, the Viking Leif Erikson sailed to North America. That is almost 500 years before Columbus! And America is not named after Columbus, but after another explorer: Amerigo Vespucci.
Timeline words
- voyage
- a long trip by ship
- set sail
- start a trip by ship
- crew
- the people who work on a ship
- fleet
- a group of ships
- arrested
- taken by the police or soldiers
- continent
- a very big piece of land, like Europe or Asia