Christopher Columbus[a] (1451-1506) was an Italian explorer, navigator, and colonist who completed four voyages across the Atlantic Ocean under the auspices of the Catholic Monarchs of Spain. He led the first European expedition
Columbus discovered the viable sailing route to the Americas, a continent which was not then known to the Old World.
While what he thought he had discovered was a route to the Far East, he is credited with the opening of the Americas for conquest and settlement by Europeans.