Christopher Columbus

The first thing that came to my mind when reading over the first writing assignment was a funny memory trick that I learned when I was younger. Christopher Columbus sailed the ocean blue in fourteen-ninety-two. In remembering this small rhyme, I decided to choose Christopher Columbus as my ocean explorer. At first, I did not know much about Columbus, other than the fact that he sailed the ocean in 1492. So in writing this paper, I decided to do a little research. I used not only our textbook, but the website: “The Columbus Navigation Homepage”. In reviewing this website, I looked at the timeline to see exactly everything Columbus did. I now know that my little rhyme is actually incorrect. Columbus might have been noted in discovering America, but in fact he discovered Cuba and Hispaniola. Columbus assumed that he had reached the new world America, but instead he only reached the small island nations now known as Cuba and Hispaniola. All of this was done in his first voyage. Over his lifetime, Columbus made four voyages to what he considered the continent of America. In his other voyages, Columbus arrived at Jamaica, Trinidad, Gomera (modern day Canary Islands), and Mosquito Coast (modern day Nicaragua). After reading the material on the website, I received a better understanding of exactly what Christopher Columbus did. He may not have discovered the continent of America, but he did discover many other countries. Columbus was a major ocean explorer for his time. Not only did he discover all the countries listed above, but he made four successful voyages back and forth. He was an exceptional explorer, who knew how to navigate his ship.
Works Cited
Garrison, T. (2010). Chapter Two: History. Oceanography: an invitation to marine science (7th ed., pp. 40-41). Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole, Cengage Learning.
Pickering, K. (n.d.). A Christopher Columbus Timeline. The Columbus Navigation Homepage. Retrieved February

Cited: Garrison, T. (2010). Chapter Two: History. Oceanography: an invitation to marine science (7th ed., pp. 40-41). Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole, Cengage Learning. Pickering, K. (n.d.). A Christopher Columbus Timeline. The Columbus Navigation Homepage. Retrieved February 5, 2011, from http://www.columbusnavigation.