GREAT EXPLORERS

GREAT EXPLORERS

Incredible explorers People have always wanted to find new places. Great explorers such as Christopher Columbus and Neil Armstrong made dangerous journeys into the unknown. Christopher Columbus sailed across the Atlantic Ocean in the 15th century in search of new lands. Hundreds of years later, Neil Armstrong travelled into space and was the first human to explore the moon. Both these men are remembered in history for their discoveries. So, what does it take to be a great explorer?

Who was Christopher Columbus? Christopher Columbus was born around 1450. He grew up in the port of Genoa, in Italy. At that time, people were starting to travel further in ships to find new places to trade with. Christopher's father was a merchant. He wanted his son to make lots of money so he sent Christopher to work on trading ships when he was just a boy.

UK France Genoa Italy Spain North Africa

Becoming an explorer Christopher learnt the skills he needed to be a good explorer by sailing around Europe. He navigated using the stars and the sun, and he learnt how to use a compass and to make maps of new places. He wanted to find a quicker way to sail to Asia to trade and he thought he could do this by sailing west across the Atlantic Ocean. the journey fron Europe across th Atlantic Ocean

Discovering the Americas Christopher needed ships for his voyage. After many years, King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain agreed to pay for them as long as Christopher gave any new land and treasure to Spain. He set sail in August 1492 with three ships: the Santa Maha, the Nina and the Pinta. The voyage was very difficult because the ships got damaged and had to be repaired, and Christopher's compass broke. After 36 days they arrived in the Bahamas, but Christopher still thought it was Asia and named the islands the Indies. Much later, he found out he'd travelled to Central America - somewhere he hadn't known existed until then.