| King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain finally agree to act as patrons to Christopher Columbus and provide money and ships
August: He leaves Palos, Spain in search of the Indies on his ship which is called the Santa Maria. His son, Fernando accompanied Columbus. The other two ships were called the Pinta and the Nina Martin Alonso Pinzon commanded the Pinta and his brother, Vicente Yanez Pinzon commanded the Nina. The three ships carried 120 men
September 8: The Voyages of Christopher Columbus on the Santa Maria, Nina and Pinta begin
September 15: The ships reach the Canaries under favorable conditions
September 20: At the Sargasso Sea the weather conditions change. Columbus keeps two log books to deceive the crew as to the real length of the voyage
September 23: The crew become disgruntled
October 7: False landfall is spotted
October 11: There is near Mutiny from the crew
October 12: Land seen by one of the Pinta's crew and they land on Watling's Island in the Bahamas, West Indies. The discoverers name the island San Salvador and Columbus believes that he has reached the passage to India and China
October 28: The fleet reaches Cuba
December 5: The Santa Maria sinks off the cost of Hispaniola but Christopher Columbus establishes the first Spanish settlement in the New World
January 16: Columbus starts the return journey to Spain |