Christopher Columbus (Cristóbal Colón) was an Italian sailor and explorer. He was convinced that the world was round. The Catholic Monarchs (Reyes Católicos) financed Christopher Columbus's expedition.

At the beginning of the modern age there were technological advances that eased navigation to distant lands. This resulted in the expansion of the world known to the Europeans. 

Christopher Columbus (Cristóbal Colón) was looking for a different route from that of the Portuguese navigators to reach Asia. He convinced the Catholic Monarchs (Reyes Católicos) to finance his trip. His expedition left Huelva on August 4^th, 1492.

On the night of October 12^th, 1492, and after a long trip across the Atlantic Ocean, Rodrigo de Triana, a member of the crew, shouted 'land ahoy!'. They had landed on the Guanahani island that Columbus named San Salvador.

On the 3^rd of August, 1492,  Columbus left Huelva with three ships. On the 12^th of October ,  the sailors saw land. Christopher Columbus thought he had reached Asia. Years after his death, an Italian sailor Americo Vespucci proved that those lands were a new continent. The new continent was called America.

The arrival of Columbus in America resulted in a great rivalry between Castilian and Portuguese reigns. To avoid conflict, they accepted mediation by the Pope through the the Treaty of Tordesillas. It established that the line of division between Castilian and Portuguese territories would be along a meridian about 2,000 kilometers west of the Azores. This was how the overseas territories were established.

He was a sailor from Genoa in Italy. He believed that the Earth was round, and that he could reach Asia by crossing the Atlantic Ocean. His expeditions were financed by the Reyes Católicos.

He left Huelva with three ships and reached the ‘new land’ in October, 1492.

Along his life, he did 4 expeditions to this land, that he always thought it was Asia. He never knew he had discovered a continent.

Castilla and Portugal wanted to control the territories discovered by their expeditions. To avoid conflict, they accepted the mediation of the Pope.

The Treaty of Tordesillas (1494) established that the line of division between Castilian and Portuguese territories would be along a meridian about 2,000 km west of the Azores.

All the territories east of this meridian belonged to Portugal. All the land west of this line belonged to Castilla.

In 1519 Fernando de Magallanes initiated an expedition through the Atlantic to the Maluku Islands, in the Pacific Ocean. Those islands were an strategic point in the spice trade.

Magallanes died before the returning trip, so his second-in-command, Juan Sebastián Elcano, was in charge for the return journey. 

The Magallanes expedition, completed by Elcano (1519-1522) was the first journey around the world, proving that the Earth was round.