The Columbus Venture

The voyage of Christopher Columbus in 1492 is one of the most significant journeys ever made by man. It led directly to the colonization of America by Europeans, something that has had an enormous impact on the modern world. But who was Columbus? How did a relatively poor Genoese seaman persuade the monarchs of Spain, one of Europe's mightiest nations, to back a scheme based on a totally inaccurate assessment of the size of the world? How did Columbus, who was not a trained navigator, manage to make his way across the Atlantic Ocean and return safely to Spain? Where did he make his first landfall in the New World?