Excerpts

Who Was Christopher Columbus? Who Was Christopher Columbus? Who Was Christopher Columbus? A tall man paced the deck of his ship. He and his men had been at sea for seventy days, since August 3, 1492. They had sailed over 2,650 miles from Spain. Now, land had been spotted. Had Christopher Columbus's dream to reach the Indies finally come true? For years he had begged the rulers of Portugal and Spain to give him money for this journey. He wanted to find a route from Europe to the Indies by sailing west. The Indies included China, Japan, and India. No one had done this before. As the sun rose on October 12, 1492, Columbus and his crew made their way to shore. Falling to his knees, he kissed the ground and cried. Oh, what riches awaited him! He would return to Spain a hero. Columbus didn't know that this was not the Indies. So where was he? Columbus and his crew were on land that no one in Europe knew about. Christopher Columbus had discovered a new world. Chapter 1 An Explorer Is Born In 1451, a boy named Cristoforo Colombo was born in the city of Genoa, Italy. In the English-speaking world, he is known as Christopher Columbus. Christopher's father was a wool weaver. His mother was the daughter of a weaver, and she helped with the work. It was expected that one day Christopher would take over the family business. But young Christopher did not want to follow in his father's footsteps. He loved the sea, the smell of the salty air. He loved the way the wind blew through his hair. Genoa was a busy port on the Mediterranean Sea. Christopher and his younger brother, Bartolomeo, loved going down to the docks. They watched ships come into port, bringing in goods such as silk, tea, and spices from the East. And they watched the ships leave, loaded with wool, copper, tin, and weapons. Christopher hoped to work on one of those ships one day. Excerpted from Who Was Christopher Columbus? by Bonnie Bader All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.