Early LifeChristopher was born in Genoa, Italy 1451. His

father was called Domomenico Colombo and his mother was Susanna Fontanarossa. Christopher father was a wool weaver and later on he owned a cheese stand. Christopher had four brothers, Bartolomeo, Giovanni, Pellegrino and Giacomo. Christopher was the oldest of four children. When Christopher was a boy he wanted to sail around the world.

Christopher convinced King Ferdinand ll and Queen Isabella to supply him with ships and money. After eight years King Ferdinand ll and Queen Isabella finally Agreed to supply Christopher with ships and money. The three boats that Christopher got was named the Santa Maria, the Pinto and the Nina, he had 90 crew members. On the evening August 3rd 1492, Christopher left Palos with 90 crew members and the three ships the Santa Maria, the Pinto and the Nina. Christopher had expected that they will find land in four weeks but the deadline came, crew members were starting to argued to return to Spain. Christopher said “Three more days, if we don’t find land in three more days we will return to Spain.” On the second day one of Christopher’s crew member spotted land. On 12 October 1492 Christopher went to shore and named the island

San Salvador. It was probably one of the Plana Cays in the Bahamas, the natives call it the Guanahani. At the Guanahani Christopher met and traded with the Native Americans of the Lucayan tribe. He also kidnapped lot of the natives to act as guides before leaving two days later. He stopped in three islands in the Bahamas in the next two weeks, which he named Santa Maria De La Concepcion, Fernandina and Isabella.

Christopher spent weeks in Cuba searching for gold , or the Chinese civilization he had read about from Marco Polo. Christopher reached far west as Cayo Cruz on October 31 before north winds and change. When Christopher returned back in 1493 Spain he became a hero for finding Islands and gold. While sailing north to Cuba on November 22, while Martin Alonso Pinzon captain of the Pinto, left with out permission and sailed on his own to an island called Barbeque on his own

Redondo, Antigua and lot more in the Leeward islands and the Lesser Antilles chains. He also visited Puerto Rico before he went to Hispaniola.

Christopher found two towns of Isabella on the northern coast of Hispaniola, Christopher spent the next five months to settle in Hispaniola. Christopher left the settlement to his oldest son Diego. He reached Cuba (which he discovered in his first voyage) on April 30 and explored Cuba for a few days and headed to Jamaica on May 5. He spent the next few weeks on Jamaica but he returned to Isabella in August 20 1494.

Christopher became governor. Christopher was a good captain but a lousy governor and he only had that job for a year.

Christopher returned to Spain in 1495.

. But Christopher Continued exploring with his two ships.

On Christmas Eve the Santa Maria grounded on a coral reef, it sank the next day forcing Christopher to leave forty men behind.

On his second voyage he had seven teen ships and over 1000 men working for him, included in his voyage for the first time was pigs, horses and cattle. Christopher’s commands were to expand the settlement of Hispaniola. The fleet set sail on October 13 , 1493, on November 3rd they spotted land.

The island they spotted was named Dominica by Christopher. Christopher and some of his crew went to shore but they didn't stay long because of the in habited caribs. Moving on they discovered some other islands, including Guadalupe, Montserrat,

The goal behind the third journey was bring supplies for the settlement and explore further south. It was May 30, 1498 when Christopher left Spain. He left Spain with six ships. Christopher lead his fleet to the Portuguese island of Porto Santo, he then sailed to Madeira. Christopher landed on the south coast of the island of Trinidad on 31 July. From 4 August through 12 August he explored the Gulf of Paria which separates Trinidad from Venezuela. He explored the mainland of South America, including the Orinoco River. He also sailed to the islands of Chacachacare and Margarita Island and sighted and named Tobago. Christopher was a good captain but a lousy governor and he only had that job for a year.

Christopher returned to Spain in 1495.

Christopher made a fourth voyage. On May 11, 1502 , four old ships 140 crew men set sail. Christopher’s brother Bartolomeo and his 13 year old son Fernando joined him too. Christopher was 51 on his fourth voyage. He sailed to Arzila on the Moroccan coast to rescue the Portuguese soldiers who were being besieged by the Moors. On June 15, they landed at Carbet on the island of Martinique. A hurricane was forming so he continued on, hoping to find shelter on Hispaniola After a short stop at Jamaica, Christopher then sailed to central America arriving at Guanaja in the Bay Islands off the coast of Honduras. Christopher spent two months exploring the coasts of Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica, before arriving in Almirante Bay, Panama on October 16 1502.

As he was preparing to return to Spain, he took three of his ships out of the river, leaving one with the garrison. April 6, a large force of Indians attacked the garrison. The Spanish managed to hold off the attack, but lost a number of men and realized that the garrison could not be held for long. Columbus rescued the remaining members of the garrison, losing one of his ships in the process. The three remaining ships, now badly leaking from shipworm, sailed for home on April 16. Off the coast of Cuba, they were hit by another storm, the last of the ship's boats was lost, and one of the caravels was so badly damaged that she had to be taken in tow by the flagship. Both ships were leaking very badly, and water continued to rise. Finally, Christopher could no longer keep the ships going. The Ships sank at St. Anne's Bay, Jamaica, on June 25, 1503.

Columbus and his men were stranded on Jamaica for a year. Diego Mendez, one of Columbus's captains, bought a canoe from a local chief and sailed it to Hispaniola. Columbus returned home to Spain on November 7, 1504, his last voyage complete.

Map of Christopher’s voyages

Sourceshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/

Christopher_Columbusgardenofpraise.com/ibdcolum.htm www.enchantedlearning.com/explorers/page/.../columbus.shtml