[[Image:columbus.jpg|thumb]] '''Christopher Columbus''' (1451-1506) was a [[Genoa|Genoese]] explorer who explored the [[West Indies]] for [[Spain]] from 1492 to 1502. Christopher Columbus was the second named European sailor to arrive at the Americas (the first one being the Norse explorer [[Leif Erikson]], whose discovery produced no enduring settlements, although there is good evidence that Viking settlements lasted until the early 12th century), (though [[Basques|Basque]] fishermen had been visiting the [[Grand Banks]] off [[Newfoundland]] for hundreds of years). | [[Image:columbus.jpg|thumb]] '''Christopher Columbus''' (1451-1506) was a [[Genoa|Genoese]] explorer who explored the [[West Indies]] for [[Spain]] from 1492 to 1502. Christopher Columbus was the second named European sailor to arrive at the Americas (the first one being the Norse explorer [[Leif Erikson]], whose discovery produced no enduring settlements, although there is good evidence that Viking settlements lasted until the early 12th century), (though [[Basques|Basque]] fishermen had been visiting the [[Grand Banks]] off [[Newfoundland]] for hundreds of years). |