Born in ~1451 in Genoa, modern day Italy, Christopher Columbus was commissioned by the Spanish Crown to sail westward over the Atlantic Ocean in search of a passage to East Asia. Often hailed as the discoverer of the Americas, Christopher Columbus made several voyages to the New World beginning in 1492, never realizing that he had found two new continents. Christopher Columbus died at Valladolid, Spain, 20 May 1506.
