Christopher Columbus discovered America in 1492. Discovery of America. Christopher Columbus biography

The history of the discovery of America is quite amazing. These events took place at the end of the 15th century due to the rapid development of navigation and shipping in Europe. In many ways, we can say that the discovery of the American continent happened completely by accident and the motives were very banal - the search for gold, wealth, large trading cities.

In the 15th century, ancient tribes lived on the territory of modern America who were very good-natured and hospitable. In Europe, in those days, even then the states were quite developed and modern. Each country tried to expand its sphere of influence and find new sources of replenishment of the state treasury. At the end of the 15th century, trade and the development of new colonies flourished.

Who discovered America?

In the 15th century, ancient tribes lived on the territory of modern America who were very good-natured and hospitable. In Europe, even then the states were quite developed and modern. Each country tried to expand its sphere of influence and find new sources of replenishment of the state treasury.

When you ask any adult or child who discovered America, we will hear about Columbus. It was Christopher Columbus who gave impetus to the active search and development of new lands.

Christopher Columbus is the great Spanish navigator. Information about where he was born and spent his childhood is limited and contradictory. It is known that as a young man, Christopher was interested in cartography. He was married to the daughter of a navigator. In 1470, the geographer and astronomer Toscanelli informed Columbus of his assumptions that the route to India was shorter if one sailed west. Apparently, then Columbus began to hatch his idea of ​​​​a short route to India, and according to his calculations, it was necessary to sail through the Canary Islands, and Japan would be close there.
Since 1475, Columbus has been trying to implement the idea and make an expedition. The purpose of the expedition is to find a new trade route to India across the Atlantic Ocean. To do this, he turned to the government and merchants of Genoa, but they did not support him. The second attempt to find funding for the expedition was made by the Portuguese King João II, however, even here, after a long study of the project, he was refused.

For the last time, he came to the Spanish king with his project. At the beginning, his project was considered for a long time, there were even several meetings and commissions, this lasted several years. His idea was supported by bishops and Catholic kings. But Columbus received final support for his project after the victory of Spain in the city of Granada, which was liberated from the Arab presence.

The expedition was organized on the condition that Columbus, if successful, would receive not only the gifts and riches of new lands, but also receive, in addition to the status of a nobleman, the title: Admiral of the Sea-Ocean and Viceroy of all the lands that he discovers. For Spain, a successful expedition promised not only the development of new lands, but also the opportunity to trade directly with India, since according to the treaty concluded with Portugal, Spanish ships were prohibited from entering the waters of the western coast of Africa.

When and how did Columbus discover America?

Historians consider 1942 to be the year of the discovery of America, although these are rather approximate data. Discovering new lands and islands, Columbus had no idea that this was another continent, which would later be called the “New World”. The traveler undertook 4 expeditions. He arrived to new and new lands, believing that these were the lands of “Western India”. For quite a long time everyone in Europe thought so. However, another traveler Vasco da Gama declared Columbus a deceiver, since it was Gamma who found a direct route to India and brought gifts and spices from there.

What America did Christopher Columbus discover? It can be said that thanks to his expeditions since 1492, Columbus discovered both North and South America. To be more precise, islands were discovered that are now considered either South or North America.

Who discovered America first?

Although historically it is believed that it was Columbus who discovered America, but in fact this is not entirely true.

There is evidence that the “New World” was previously visited by the Scandinavians (Leif Eriksson in 1000, Thorfinn Karlsefni in 1008); this journey became known from the manuscripts “The Saga of Eric the Red” and “The Saga of the Greenlanders”. There are other “discoverers of America,” but the scientific community does not take them seriously because there is no reliable data. For example, America was previously visited by an African traveler from Mali - Abu Bakr II, a Scottish nobleman Henry Sinclair, and a Chinese traveler Zheng He.

Why was America called America?

The first widely known and recorded fact is the visit of this part of the “New World” by the traveler and navigator Amerigo Vespucci. It is noteworthy that it was he who put forward the assumption that this was not India or China, but a completely new, previously unknown continent. It is believed that this is why the name America was assigned to the new land, and not its discoverer, Columbus.

Such an event as the discovery of America by Christopher Columbus is now of little interest to anyone, but just a few centuries ago America itself did not exist for Europeans at all.

No one could have imagined that beyond their narrow little world there was a huge world inhabited by large nations, a developed culture and a mass of monuments of ancient history.

Today America is the center of development of our world, where people from all over the planet flock, the best scientists, programmers, and simply active people who want to realize the American dream in their lives. And this is one of the most important reasons why it is worth knowing more about the discovery of this continent.

North America is interesting to study from a historical perspective, not only because it is unique and fascinating in its own way, but also in order to better understand its people, established values ​​and culture.

It was the colonialist status of this powerful power that at one time became the incentive that forced it to actively develop and turn into what we see now. And it fell to the great traveler Columbus to discover this continent full of beauty and secrets.

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Who discovered America first

We all know the stories about the travels of the great man Columbus, who, together with his crew, fearlessly sailed the oceans in search of new places to spread the power of his country. This man acted both from the will of his leadership and the country, and was driven by personal interests, the desire to move and discover new things.

Amerigo Vespucci (1454 - 1512)

But not everyone knows that Columbus was not the first to discover America, since another equally legendary traveler managed to do it before him.

America got its name in honor of the most famous traveler of his time - Amerigo Vespucci. This resident of Florence, born in 1454, set out under the leadership of Admiral Alonso de Ojeda as a navigator to conquer unprecedented lands.

It was he who gave Venezuela its current name, which means “little Venice,” and also discovered dozens of other places, which later largely retained the names given to them. It is interesting that Vespucci most likely was personally acquainted with the Spanish traveler Columbus; their acquaintance probably took place in the trading house of Danoto Berardi.

The discoverer Vespucci did not go unnoticed, and it was in honor of his discoveries that the lands of the New Overseas World were later named America.

What then did Columbus discover?

If it was Vespucci who discovered the continents of America, which is reflected even in its name, then what are the merits of the famous Columbus, why is he considered the discoverer of this region of the world?

Many travelers reached the shores of the New World before Columbus, but the problem with their travels was that they did not leave behind any clear and structured information. The heritage of the travels of Christopher's predecessors remained in the shadows, few knew about them, and that part of the world still remained distant and mysterious.

Columbus himself, starting from 1499 and later, in his further voyages not only reached the shores of the Western Hemisphere, but collected a lot of information about the countries and islands located there.

It was he who opened these places to a wide range of Europeans and launched mass travel and migration to this region, beginning a century of great change and transformation of the whole world.

When and how America was discovered by Christopher Columbus

The discovery of America is a collective concept that includes many events, and not just the discovery of the largest island or country on the continent.

It is believed that the discoverer discovered the New World in 1492, during his first expedition there. At this time, Spanish ships reached Haiti, the Caribbean islands, visited the Bahamas archipelago, and also Cuba.

The first island that travelers met in America was San Salvador, where they landed in the memorable year 1492.

This expedition, like the three subsequent ones, was organized by the Spanish king with the goal of finding shorter routes to India, with which increasingly close trade relations were being established at that time. But fate turned out differently, and the sailors’ path went to the shores of completely new lands.

Columbus's four expeditions - a brief history of the discovery of America

In total, Columbus, together with other brave sailors, made 4 expeditions to the shores of Novaya Zemlya. Thanks to these visits, a lot of new islands, countries and regions appeared on the map, many of which still have the names that the sailors of the past assigned to them.

The first trip took place in 1492-1493, there were 91 people on 3 ships, the places visited at that time have already been mentioned above. The sailors returned home on March 15, 1943.

The next, 2nd journey, took place in 1493-1496. The navigator was already in the rank of admiral and, in addition to this, also the viceroy of the open lands. Now a team of one and a half thousand people and 17 ships was faced with the task of gaining a foothold in new lands and thoroughly exploring them. This time we managed to discover the Dominican Republic, Guadeloupe, Puerto Rico, Pinos, and delve significantly into the study of Haiti.

The third time, the journey lasted 2 years (1498-1500) and this voyage made it possible to study the New World even better. The islands of Trinidad and the Paria Peninsula were discovered, and the development of not only the lands of what is now the United States, but also South America began. The peninsulas of Margarita and Araya were also found, and many studies were carried out.

The last, 4th voyage of Columbus took place in 1502-1504. This time, the brave discoverer of new lands reached the Caribbean shores, visiting Nicaragua, Honduras, Costa Rica, and Panama. In 1503, trouble happened - a sailor's ship was wrecked near Jamaica.

Columbus's travel routes on the map

To clearly see the journey that the brave traveler from Europe took with his team, just look at the routes of all 4 expeditions shown on the map. In general terms, the features of the route of each new voyage are clear from the list of new lands discovered, but for greater clarity, you can use the following image:

Official discovery date of America

As mentioned above, the official date of the discovery of America is considered to be 1492, when the very first expedition of the great European sailor took place.

There are a lot of stories that indirectly indicate that the coast of America was first discovered not by Columbus or Vespucci, but by many other explorers and even representatives of the Viking people.

But the official date of discovery is precisely 1492, because it was not just a discovery on the map, but also the discovery of the countries of the New World as a cultural phenomenon, the beginning of an endless flow of emigrants and the establishment of trade and economic ties.

The fact that it was Christopher Columbus who took upon himself the great glory of being considered a discoverer is, in a way, a stroke of fate, but not just something that fell on one’s head, but given as a reward for courage, activity and lack of fear of trials and distant journeys.

The significance of the discovery of America by Christopher Columbus

Obviously, the discovery of the New World for Europe in the form of North and South America became a grandiose event of its time and set the vector for the development of an entire world civilization for hundreds of years to come.

Thanks to these events, the United States emerged, at first frail and mired in internal conflicts, populated by incomprehensible personalities and adventurers, and later quickly transformed into an advanced country that fought slavery, created the most powerful dollar currency, and shifted progress in science and technology to new horizons.

The event in question has become extremely important both for Europe and America, and for the whole world. It is difficult to imagine what the current civilization, economic and political maps of the world would look like if it were not for the presence of a Spanish daredevil at one time, who, for the sake of the call of honor and a gambling desire for adventure, would not have gone to conquer the Atlantic Ocean.

Discovery of America by Christopher Columbus. 1492. (Briefly)

Christopher Columbus first landed on the shores of the New World: in San Salvador, Wisconsin, October 12, 1492.
Spanish artist Tolin Puebla Theophilus Dioscorus (1831-901)

Date of: 1492

"Old World" name the region of the Earth known to Europeans before the discovery of America. It included Europe, Asia and Africa. "New World"- this is America.

Discovery of America- this is the name of the event as a result of which the inhabitants of the Old World learned about the existence of America - the New World.

From the history:

Christopher Columbus (1451-1506). Genoese. Navigator, Spanish admiral.

Columbus undertook 4 expeditions. America was discovered as a result of the first expedition. The king of Spain of this period is Ferdinand, the queen is Isabella (she supported H. Columbus).

1st expedition- 1492-1493

Vessels: “Santa Maria”, “Pinta”, “Nina”.

Route: Palos da la Flonter, a city in Spain - Canary Islands - crossing the Atlantic Ocean - the island of San Salvador in the Bohamian archipelago (12 October 1492 - official date of discovery of America) - Cuba - island of Haiti - Castile (Italy)

H. Columbus himself believed that opened the way to Asia, calling the land the West Indies and the inhabitants Indians.

In Spain, H. Columbus was greeted with great honors. The king appointed him “admiral of the sea-ocean,” viceroy of the lands that he had discovered and would discover in the future.

Ironically, the discoveries of the land did not give Columbus wealth. He died in poverty, forgotten by everyone.

During the expedition 1501-1502. Florentine navigator Amerigo Vespucci came to the conclusion that Columbus had discovered a new continent. In 1507, a new land appeared on the map, conventionally called “Land of Amerigo”, later America.

Events in the history of Russia of this period:

Reign period IvanaIII (1462-1505)

1492-1494 - successful war with Lithuania, annexation of Vyazma and other cities.

Material prepared by: Melnikova Vera Aleksandrovna

The history of the discovery of America is quite amazing.

These events took place at the end of the 15th century due to the rapid development of navigation and shipping in Europe. In many ways, we can say that the discovery of the American continent happened completely by accident and the motives were very banal - the search for gold, wealth, large trading cities.

In the 15th century, ancient tribes lived on the territory of modern America who were very good-natured and hospitable. In Europe, in those days, even then the states were quite developed and modern. Each country tried to expand its sphere of influence and find new sources of replenishment of the state treasury. At the end of the 15th century, trade and the development of new colonies flourished.

In the 15th century, ancient tribes lived on the territory of modern America who were very good-natured and hospitable. In Europe, even then the states were quite developed and modern. Each country tried to expand its sphere of influence and find new sources of replenishment of the state treasury.

When you ask any adult or child who discovered America, we will hear about Columbus. It was Christopher Columbus who gave impetus to the active search and development of new lands.

Christopher Columbus is the great Spanish navigator. Information about where he was born and spent his childhood is limited and contradictory. It is known that as a young man, Christopher was interested in cartography. He was married to the daughter of a navigator. In 1470, the geographer and astronomer Toscanelli informed Columbus of his assumptions that the route to India was shorter if one sailed west. Apparently, then Columbus began to hatch his idea of ​​​​a short route to India, and according to his calculations, it was necessary to sail through the Canary Islands, and Japan would be close there.
Since 1475, Columbus has been trying to implement the idea and make an expedition.

The purpose of the expedition was to find a new trade route to India across the Atlantic Ocean. To do this, he turned to the government and merchants of Genoa, but they did not support him. The second attempt to find funding for the expedition was made by the Portuguese King João II, however, even here, after a long study of the project, he was refused.

For the last time, he came to the Spanish king with his project. At the beginning, his project was considered for a long time, there were even several meetings and commissions, this lasted several years. His idea was supported by bishops and Catholic kings. But Columbus received final support for his project after the victory of Spain in the city of Granada, which was liberated from the Arab presence.

The expedition was organized on the condition that Columbus, if successful, would receive not only the gifts and riches of new lands, but also receive, in addition to the status of a nobleman, the title: Admiral of the Sea-Ocean and Viceroy of all the lands that he discovers.

For Spain, a successful expedition promised not only the development of new lands, but also the opportunity to trade directly with India, since according to the treaty concluded with Portugal, Spanish ships were prohibited from entering the waters of the western coast of Africa.

When and how did Columbus discover America?

Historians consider 1942 to be the year of the discovery of America, although these are rather approximate data. Discovering new lands and islands, Columbus had no idea that this was another continent, which would later be called the “New World”. The traveler undertook 4 expeditions. He arrived at new and new lands, believing that these were the lands of “Western India”. For quite a long time everyone in Europe thought so. However, another traveler Vasco da Gama declared Columbus a deceiver, since it was Gamma who found a direct route to India and brought gifts and spices from there.

What America did Christopher Columbus discover? It can be said that thanks to his expeditions since 1492, Columbus discovered both North and South America. To be more precise, islands were discovered that are now considered either South or North America.

Who discovered America first?

Although historically it is believed that it was Columbus who discovered America, but in fact this is not entirely true.

There is evidence that the “New World” was previously visited by the Scandinavians (Leif Eriksson in 1000, Thorfinn Karlsefni in 1008); this journey became known from the manuscripts “The Saga of Eric the Red” and “The Saga of the Greenlanders.” There are other “discoverers of America,” but the scientific community does not take them seriously because there is no reliable data. For example, America was previously visited by an African traveler from Mali - Abu Bakr II, a Scottish nobleman Henry Sinclair, and a Chinese traveler Zheng He.

Why was America called America?

The first widely known and recorded fact is the visit of this part of the “New World” by the traveler and navigator Amerigo Vespucci. It is noteworthy that it was he who put forward the assumption that this was not India or China, but a completely new, previously unknown continent. It is believed that this is why the name America was assigned to the new land, and not its discoverer, Columbus.

Around 1474 to Portugal sailor Christopher Columbus arrived. Where he came from, who he was, where he spent his youth - all these questions have been of interest to European and American scientists for many decades. Columbus himself obviously had very serious reasons for keeping secret everything related to his origin and early life, so information about him is very scarce and contradictory.

It is usually believed that he was a Genoese and spent his youth sailing, that he visited various ports of the Mediterranean Sea, and traveled to Ireland and Iceland.

In 1474, Columbus entered the Portuguese service, visited the newly founded Portuguese colonies in Africa and lived for several years on the island of Madeira.

At this time, Portuguese ships slowly but persistently moved south, exploring the African coast, establishing trading posts and preparing the opening of the eastern route to India around Africa.

But Columbus wanted to take a different path.

He had long been collecting fragmentary information about the lands lying beyond the Atlantic Ocean, confused stories about voyages to the west, fantastic legends of antiquity and the Middle Ages. He heard that occasionally the current brought unknown flowers and other parts of plants, as well as the bodies of unknown people, to the shores of the Azores. Columbus compared all the information with ancient descriptions of Asia.

His imagination was especially struck by Marco Polo's book, which told about the gold-covered palaces of Jipango (Japan), about the pomp and splendor of the court of the Great Khan, about the homeland of spices - India.

Columbus had no doubt that the Earth was spherical, but it seemed to him that this ball was much smaller than it actually was. That's why he thought that Japan was relatively close to the Azores.

Columbus decided to reach India via the western route, and in 1484 he outlined his plan to the Portuguese king. But this project seemed fantastic to the king and his advisers. And the possibilities of Portugal were very limited. The war with the Moors in Morocco and expeditions to Africa so depleted the treasury of Portugal that the Portuguese king categorically refused to equip a new expedition to the unknown west.

At the end of 1484, Columbus fled to Spain to propose his project to King Ferdinand of León and his wife, Queen Isabella of Castile. But even here, Cristoval Colon (as Columbus was called in Spain) faced many years of need, humiliation and disappointment. Royal advisers found Columbus's project impracticable. Columbus was refused. Then he proposed his plan to England, and then again to Portugal, but nowhere was he taken seriously.

Only after the Spaniards took Granada did Columbus, after much trouble, manage to obtain three small ships in Spain. With incredible difficulty, he assembled a team, and finally, on August 3, 1492, a small squadron left the Spanish port of Paloe and headed west to look for India.

The sea was calm and deserted, a fair wind was blowing. They went on like this for more than a month. On September 15, Columbus and his Companions saw a green stripe in the distance. But their joy soon gave way to grief. This was not the long-awaited land, it was the Sargasso Sea - a giant accumulation of algae.

On September 18 - 20, the sailors saw flocks of birds flying to the west. “Finally,” the sailors thought, “the land is close!” But this time, too, the travelers were disappointed. The crew began to worry. In order not to frighten people with the distance traveled, Columbus downplayed the distance traveled in the ship's log.

On October 11, at ten o'clock in the evening, Columbus, eagerly peering into the darkness of the night, saw a light flickering in the distance, and on October 12, 1492, in the morning, still in the moonlight, one of the sailors of the leading ship shouted: “Earth!” The sails on the ships were removed. In the morning, the travelers saw a small low-lying island overgrown with palm trees. Naked people with copper-red skin were running along the sand along the shore. Columbus put on a scarlet dress over his armor and, with the royal flag in his hands, went ashore to the New World. This was Watling Island from the Bahamas group of islands.

The locals called it Guanahani, and Columbus called it San Salvador. This is how America was discovered.

However, until the end of his life, Columbus was sure that he had not discovered any “New World”, but had only found a way to India. And with his light hand, the inhabitants of the New World began to be called Indians.

The inhabitants of the newly discovered island were tall and beautiful. They walked naked, their bodies were colorfully painted. Some had shiny sticks stuck through their noses, which delighted Columbus. After all, it was gold, and close by is the country of golden palaces - Jipango.

In search of the golden Jipango, Columbus left Guanahani and went further, discovering island after island. Everywhere the Spaniards were amazed by the lush tropical vegetation, the beauty of the islands scattered in the blue ocean, the friendliness and meekness of the Indians, who gave the Spaniards gold and colorful birds in exchange for trinkets, molasses and beautiful rags. On October 28, Columbus reached Cuba.

The population of Cuba was more cultured than the inhabitants of the Bahamas. In Cuba, Columbus found statues, large houses, bales of cotton and for the first time saw cultivated plants - tobacco, corn and potatoes, products of the New World, which later conquered the whole world. All this further strengthened Columbus’s confidence that Jipango and India were somewhere nearby. On December 4, 1492, Columbus discovered the island of Haiti (the Spaniards then called it Hispaniola). On this island, Columbus built the fort of La Navidad (Christmas), left a forty garrison there, and on January 16, 1493, headed for Europe on two ships. His largest ship, the Santa Maria, was wrecked on December 25th.

On the way back, a terrible storm broke out, and the ships lost sight of each other. Only on February 18, 1493, the exhausted sailors saw the Azores, and on February 25 they reached Lisbon. On March 15, Columbus returned to the port of Palos after an eight-month absence. Thus ended Columbus's first voyage.

The traveler was received with delight in Spain. He was granted a coat of arms depicting a map of the newly discovered islands and with the motto:

FOR CASTILLE AND LEON
A NEW WORLD DISCOVERED BY COLON

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Other books on similar topics: Thanks to him, we learned about potatoes and tomatoes, without which we cannot imagine a modern menu. I will tell you interesting facts, as well as about where the Spanish subject was sailing when he discovered new lands for Europeans. Columbus is not a nobleman; his father was a small merchant, guardian of the city gates. Perhaps the son also began to work early as a cabin boy on a ship, but he received an education and knew geometry and geography well.

Later he worked as a cartographer, drawing up geographical maps, which were secret at that time. He lived in Genoa, Portugal, and then in Spain, from where he began his sea expeditions. Most likely, the navigator was looking for a sea route to India, rich in herbs and spices. Using the knowledge of that time, Christopher headed west, made four expeditions and discovered a new continent. Until the end of his life, he was sure that the lands he discovered were located not far from India.

Columbus discovered for Europeans such a convenient item for a country holiday as a hammock, which he spied on from local residents. Bunks on ships made of sails and nets also appeared thanks to an unusual find. The traveler's idea was to send criminals from prisons to develop open lands, which subsequently became the cause of numerous uprisings of former prisoners.

Sadly, the opening of the land also led to the revival of slavery. The development of overseas territories required a large number of workers, and the settlers did not want to work themselves.

And then the Spaniards enslaved the indigenous people, who could not resist the Europeans with firearms. Spain allocated only ten kilograms of gold for the preparation of the first expedition of its subject. And after the discovery of the New World, during the years of her reign, she took out valuables from there in an amount equal to three million kilograms of gold. One of the greatest geographical discoveries became possible thanks to an elementary mistake. During the Columbus era, humanity had already recognized that the Earth was round, so the Kingdom of Spain sent Christopher Columbus to find India, valuable for its spices.

As everyone probably knows well, such a process as the discovery of the continent of America is a very broad topic, but this article will talk about the discovery of America briefly, laying out the main essence.

The discovery of America is one of the most important events in the world history of mankind, as a result of which the Old World - that is, Western Europe, learned about the existence of a new, huge continent called America.

Expeditions of Christopher Columbus - discovery of a new continent

Great navigator Christopher Columbus in 1492 year went on a sea voyage to to find a shorter route to the rich country of India.

The King and Queen of Castile and Aragon sponsored this expedition, consisting of three ships.

12 October the same year Christopher Columbus reached the present-day Bahamas and this day is considered the date of the discovery of a new continent. After that, they discovered a number of more islands. In March 1493 Columbus returned to Castile. Thus ended his first of four expeditions to America, which he discovered.

The second expedition already included a fairly large number of ships and people. If in the first there were only three ships and a crew of less than a hundred people, then in the second expedition there were seventeen ships or more 1 thousand people on board. The most important achievement of this expedition can be considered conquest of Haiti. After this, Columbus V 1496 year returns to Spain again.

Scope third expedition, which started V 1498 year, was much smaller - only six ships. The discovery of South America began precisely with the third expedition. This expedition was interrupted V 1500 year for the reason that Columbus was arrested and sent to Castile, but upon arriving there, he was completely acquitted.

Already at this moment, a huge number of people appeared who wanted to take credit for the brilliant discovery of Christopher Columbus. IN 1502 year, Columbus is struggling to be sponsored again for another search for a short sea route to India. During this expedition he discovered the shores of modern Honduras, Costa Rica, Panama and so on. But in 1503 year, Columbus's ship was wrecked, which forced him to stop his expedition to 1504 year, returning to Castile.

After this, Christopher Columbus never returned to America.

However, as further study of history has shown, it was not Christopher Columbus who first set foot on the lands of the new continent; this was done long before his birth.

And yes, in general, humanity began to populate America only in 30 thousand years BC e.

And they discovered it for the first time, although they did not know that it was an entire continent, by none other than the masters of the seas - Vikings, back in the 10th century.

Leif Eriksson should be considered the discoverer. Leif is the son of Erik the Red, a Viking and navigator who discovered Greenland.
This fact is confirmed by traces of a Viking settlement found in L’Anse aux Meadows (the current territory of Newfoundland and Labrador (in Canada)).

As for Columbus's voyage, he himself believed that he had discovered not a new continent, but the shores of Asia. And only in his last years did he realize that he had discovered a new continent.

The open continent was named after one of the main explorers of the New World - Amerigo Vespucci. This memorable event took place in 1507 year, from that moment on the continent was considered independent.

There are also several hypotheses in history that other sailors could have discovered America. The most popular hypotheses are:
- in the fourth century BC. e. it could have been discovered by the Phoenicians;
- in the sixth century AD e. it could have been the Irish monk Brendan;
– approximately in 1421 year Chinese navigator Zheng He;

However, there is no confirmation of this yet.