What Year Did Christopher Columbus Discover America?

12 October 1492 – Christopher Columbus discovers America - painting by John Vanderlyn.

Christopher Columbus was an Italian explorer and navigator which under the auspices of the Catholic Monarchs of Spain, completed four voyages across the Atlantic Ocean that led to general European “discovery” of the American continents.
Most books mention the year 1492, as the year when Christopher Columbus Discovered America. On August 3, 1492, Columbus departed from Palos de la Frontera with three ships:

• Santa María ex-Gallega ("Galician")
• Pinta ("Painted")
• Santa Clara, Nina (lit. "Girl")

Columbus first sailed to the Canary Islands, after stopping in Gran Canaria, he departed from San Sebastián de La Gomera on 6 September, on a five-week voyage across the ocean.
Columbus called the island (in what is now The Bahamas) San Salvador; the natives called it Guanahani.
Columbus also explored the northeast coast of Cuba, where he landed on 28 October.

Columbus returned in Spain 15 March 1493 and the word of his finding of the new lands rapidly spread throughout Europe.