Question

In which year North America was discovered by Christopher Columbus?
A) 1457
B) 1482
C) 1492
D) 1498

Answer 1

Hint:Christopher Columbus was an Italian explorer and navigator who completed four voyages across the Atlantic Ocean. He was born in 1451 in Italy and died on 20th May 1506 in Spain. His four voyages were in the year – 1492, 1493, 1498 and 1502 respectively.

Complete answer:
The voyages undertaken by the Italian explorer – Christopher Columbus were sponsored by the Catholic monarch of Spain and these voyages or expeditions lead to the first contact of the Europeans with the Caribbean, Central America and South America.

Columbus was well versed in different subjects and keen to seek a western passage to the East Indies so as to profit from the spice trade. Due to his consistent persistence to multiple kingdoms, catholic monarchs King Ferdinand II & Queen Isabella I agreed to sponsor his journey.

Columbus left Castile in August 1492 with three ships and reached America in a couple of months (October). The place he landed on was the Bahamas island also known as Guanahani as per the natives.

Now, let us look into the given options
1457 – In the year 1457 Columbus was merely 6 years old, which is literally a very small age to go on a voyage to a distant land with the view of making profit.
1482 – At this period he was trading along the coasts of West Africa.
1492 – He went on his first voyage and found the island of Bahamas (America).
1498 – He explored Trinidad and the northern coast of South America.

Hence the correct answer is option ‘C’.

Note:
-Leif Eriksson day is to commemorate the Norse explorer (believed), who had led the first expedition to North America nearly 500 years before Columbus.
-America was named after ‘Amerigo Vespucci’ who discovered the fact that Columbus had found the continent of North America.