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Christopher Columbus never set foot on the mainland of what is now the United States. On four voyages between 1492 and 1504 he reached the Bahamas, Cuba, Hispaniola and other Caribbean islands, the coast of Venezuela in South America, and Central America from Honduras to Panama.

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Columbus, a sailor from Genoa, sailed for the Spanish monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella, hoping to reach Asia by going west. He made landfall on 12 October 1492 on an island in the Bahamas that its people called Guanahani. On his second voyage, in November 1493, his fleet stopped at St Croix and Puerto Rico, both now US territories but not states. In 1498 his men landed on the Paria Peninsula in Venezuela, the first recorded European landing on the South American mainland. Even so, he never clearly gave up the belief that he had reached the edge of Asia, and he called the people he met ‘Indians’. He died in Valladolid, Spain, in 1506. Florida was reached in 1513 by Juan Ponce de León, who had sailed on Columbus's second voyage.

Türkçe oku
Kristof Kolomb, bugünkü ABD'nin ana karasına hiç ayak basmadı. 1492-1504 arasındaki dört seferinde Bahama Adaları'na, Küba'ya, Hispanyola'ya ve başka Karayip adalarına, Güney Amerika'da Venezuela kıyılarına, Orta Amerika'da da Honduras'tan Panama'ya kadar uzanan sahillere ulaştı.

Cenevizli bir denizci olan Kolomb, batıya giderek Asya'ya ulaşmak umuduyla İspanya hükümdarları Ferdinand ile Isabella adına yola çıktı. 12 Ekim 1492'de, yerlilerin Guanahani dediği bir Bahama adasında karaya çıktı. Kasım 1493'te, ikinci seferi sırasında filosu Saint Croix ve Porto Riko adalarına uğradı; ikisi de bugün ABD'ye bağlıdır, ama eyalet değildir. 1498'de adamları Venezuela'daki Paria Yarımadası'nda karaya çıktı; kayıtlara göre Güney Amerika ana karasına ayak basan ilk Avrupalılar onlardı. Yine de Kolomb, Asya'nın kıyılarına ulaştığı inancından hiçbir zaman açıkça vazgeçmedi ve karşılaştığı insanlara “Hintli” dedi. 1506'da İspanya'nın Valladolid kentinde öldü. Florida'ya ise 1513'te, Kolomb'un ikinci seferine katılmış olan Juan Ponce de León ulaştı.

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Background reading: Christopher Columbus
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