Christopher Columbus

Hello! My name is Christopher Columbus. I want to tell you my story. I was born a long, long time ago in a busy city by the sea called Genoa, in Italy. Ever since I was a little boy, I loved the water. I would watch the big wooden ships with their tall masts and white sails bobbing in the harbor, and I dreamed that one day, I would be a sailor, exploring the great, wide ocean.

As I grew up, I became a sailor and learned all about maps and stars. I had a very big idea! At that time, people wanted to travel to faraway lands in the East, called the Indies, to get wonderful spices and silks. Everyone sailed east to get there, but I thought, 'The world is round like a ball! What if I sail west, the opposite way? I bet I could get there even faster!'. Many people told me it was a silly idea and that the ocean was too big. I asked many kings and queens to help me get ships and sailors, but they all said no. Finally, the kind Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand of Spain listened to my plan. They believed in my dream and agreed to help me!

On August 3rd, 1492, my adventure began! I set sail from Spain with three ships: the Niña, the Pinta, and my biggest ship, the Santa María. We sailed west for weeks and weeks. All we could see was blue water and blue sky. My sailors grew tired and scared. They wanted to turn back! But I told them to be brave and trust our journey. Then, one morning, on October 12th, a sailor shouted, 'Land ho!'. It was the most wonderful sight I had ever seen. We had reached a beautiful island with white sandy beaches and tall green trees.

When we went ashore, we met the people who lived on the island. Everything was new and exciting—the colorful birds, the sweet-smelling flowers, and the friendly people. I thought I had reached the Indies, but I had actually sailed to a place that people in Europe didn't know about, which would later be called the Americas. I made more voyages across the ocean, and my journeys created a bridge between the old world and the new. Because of my travels, people, foods, and animals began to move between the two parts of the world, changing it forever. I remained an explorer for the rest of my life, always curious about the amazing world around us.