Columbus Day!

         Christopher Columbus was born between 31 October 1450 and 30 October 1451.  He was an Italian explorer, navigator, colonizer, and citizen of the Republic of Genoa. Columbus proposed to reach the East Indies by sailing westward, and this eventually received the support of the Spanish Crown which saw a chance to enter the spice trade with Asia through a new westward route. He reached the New World instead of arriving at Japan as he had intended, landing on an island in the Bahamas archipelago which he named "San Salvador". Over the course of three more voyages, he visited the Greater and Lesser Antilles, as well as the Caribbean coast of Venezuela and Central America, claiming all of it for the Crown of Castle. His voyages led to the first lasting European contact with the Americas, inaugurating a period of European exploration, conquest, and colonization that lasted for several centuries. These voyages had, therefore, an enormous impact in the historical development of the modern Western world. He spearheaded the transatlantic slave trade and has been accused by several historians of initiating the genocide of the Hispaniola natives. This is the information we should know in Columbus Day!