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Christopher Columbus (or Cristoforo Columbo in his language) was an Italian explorer born in Genoa, circa 1451. His mother was Susanna Fontanarossa, about whom not much is known. His father was Domenico Columbo, a weaver who also owned a cheese stand, at which Christopher worked. Domenico was generally well-respected in his small community; however, he wasn’t known for his strong work ethic. Perhaps this wasn’t such a bad thing, as if he made a lot of money, maybe Christopher and his brother Bartholomew wouldn’t have become explorers to make money! In a writing by him, he says he first went to sea at the age of ten. When he was 19, his family moved to Savona, where his father worked at a tavern. Later that year, he took on his first expedition, …show more content…
They agreed to sponsor his voyage. However, this wasn’t coming out of their pockets. A village had recently disobeyed Crown orders, and guess what their fine was going to be? That’s right, just enough for Columbus’s journey. He set sail from the fined city, Palos de la Frontera, at 8:00 in the morning, August 3, 1492. Only 3 days after setting sail, the rudder of one of his ships, the Pinta, broke. The owners of the ship were suspected of sabotage, as they and their ship had been pressed into service by the fine imposed by the …show more content…
The island has a surface area of ~1 acre. Columbus described the people as ‘kind and gentle’. He further explored the area, and on Christmas Day, the Santa Maria ran aground. The local people gave him permission to leave some sailors behind to found the settlement of La Navidad, which would be destroyed only a year later. On January 15, 1493, he set sail for home. On his return, his two ships went through a powerful storm, and lost contact on February 13. Everyone on the Nina vowed that if they made it through the storm, they would make a pilgrimage to the nearest church as soon as

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