哥伦布 ColumbusColumbus was born in 1451 in Genoa of Italy. His father was a wool merchant. When he was 26 years old, he became to make merchant voyages. The farthest countries he reached were Iceland and Guinea.At that time, many European countries became stronger and stronger. Their ships reached Africa and Asia. They got gold, silver, silk, tea and other things from the orient. Columbus wanted to make another way to China and India.On August 2,1492, Columbus left Spain and began his first voyage. He had three ships. After two months’ hard sailing, on October 12, they got to an island in the Bahamas. On October 29, they reached Cuba. But a few days later, one of his ships left them. And on December25, his flagship sunk. Fortunately, the ship that left them rejoined him again. They went back to Lisbon on March 4,1943.Although they didn’t get to rich orient countries and look back wealth, they found a new place that nobody had gone to. Columbus thought it was India and called the islands the West Indias.From 1493 to 1504, he sailed to America three times. He reached most of the coast of southern America and set up many colonies.On May 20,1506, Columbus died because of disease.哥伦布1451年，哥伦布出生于意大利热那亚。

他的父亲是一位羊毛商人。

26岁时，他开始随商船出海。

他最远到达的国家是北欧是冰岛和非洲的几内亚。

那时，许多欧洲国家逐渐强大起来，他们的船只到达了非洲和亚洲，从东方带来大量的金银、丝绸、茶叶等贵重物品。

哥伦布想另外开辟一条通往印度和中国的航线。

1492年8月2日，哥伦布带着三条船离开西班牙，开始了他的第一次远航。

经过两个月的艰苦航行，10月12日，他们到达巴哈马群岛中的一个岛。

10月29日，他们到达了古巴。

但几天以后，有条船擅自离开船队。

12月25日，哥伦布的旗舰沉没了。

幸运的是离开他们的那条船又与他们会合了。

1493年3月4日，他们回到里斯本。

虽然他们没有到达富有的东方，没有带回金银财宝，但是他们到了一个欧洲人从来没有去过的地方。

哥伦布认为他所去的地方属于印度，他把那岛叫做“西印度群岛”。

1492年到1504年间，哥伦布又三次航行至美洲。

他到了面美的大部分的海岸，建了众多的殖民地。

1506年5月20日，哥伦布因病去世。