Out of all the many great explorers most people think of Christopher Columbus as the greatest. They think of him as the greatest because he was the first explorer to reach the Americas. He was one of the few early believers that the world was round. Throughout Columbus's great life as an explorer he went on four great voyages and made many great discoveries. Columbus had a great life and many interesting things happened to him in his lifetime. Columbus# forever changed the world by his many discoveries and it is amazing how many discoveries he managed to go back to the same location every time even though he had no idea where he really was and he made many navigational errors.
             Columbus was born in Genoa Italy in 1451. Genoa had a busy port and many ships went in and out of its port everyday#. His father was a weaver and it is believed that he started to become a weaver when he was young. He had very little education and learned to read and write as an adult. He went to sea just like the other Genoese boys did and voyaged in the Mediterranean. When he was 25 years old he went with a convoy bound for England, the ship sunk, but Columbus swam to shore and took refuge in Lisbon. He settled there and later married in 1479#. He married the daughter of the governor that governed the island of Porto Santo. In 1480 Columbus had his only son of this marriage, Diego Columbus#.
             In the late 1400's people wanted to go to the Indies because the Indies had spices and gold#. To go to the Indies they had to go around Africa the sail east. Christopher Columbus had the idea to sail west and get to the Indies faster. Back then people didn't know about North and South America and the Pacific Ocean. They also didn't know how big the Atlantic Ocean really was, so Columbus's plan was a good one. Columbus brought his plan to King John of Portugal and asked him for ships and money and in return he would bring back go
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