Christopher Columbus (Spanish: Crist ó bal Col ó n; Italian: Cristoforo Colombo, about 1451-1506, May 20) was born in the medieval Republic of Genoa (now northwest Italy). Italian explorer and navigator, one of the major figures in the great navigation era, is the pioneer of the great geographical discovery. On Columbus's first voyage in 1492, he landed at a place in the Bahamas called "San Salvador", not Japan as planned. In the following three voyages, Columbus reached the Greater Anti...