Christoffer Columbus

Columbus was born in Italy in one of its port cities.  He was a sailor.  He was shipwrecked and swam six miles to Portugal with an oar.  Prince Henry had started a sailing school in Portugal.  Christoffer Columbus learned about sailing there.  He became a captain of ships and was considered one of the greatest sailors.   He thought he could sail west and get to the Indies.  He asked people to sponsor his trip.  The king and queen of Spain did.  He got three ships, the Pinta, the Nina, and the Santa Maria.   He sailed across the ocean and found land.  He thought it was the Indies, and he called the people on the land Indians.  He started looking for gold.  He didn't find any gold but he made a settlement on an island called Hispaniola.  He left for a year.  He came back and the settlement was destroyed by the Indians because the men were treating them badly.  So he started it again.  He wasn't a good governor so a man from Spain came to be governor.  Columbus ended up making four trips to this new land.  He thought it was the Indies.  When he died he didn't know that he had discovered the American Continent.

Prince Henry the Navigator

Prince Henry the Navigator wanted to find a way to the Orient because the Eurpeans would pay lots to be able to have the spices from there. He thought he could do that by sailing down around Africa.  But no ship captains dared to do that.  He sent them on small trips down Africa.  He had them make charts and sail farther and farther until they reached Cape Town.  They were a part of the school he had started.  Prince Henry was the one that improved the compass so it worked better.  He started making captains of the ships write logs.  And he was the one that inspired Christopher Columbus to sail west and find America.  He also designed the ships that later were used by Columbus.

Leif Erikson

Leif was the son of Eric the Red, the first man in Greenland.  He wanted to be a sailor.  He heard from a trader that a man had been blown off course and had seen three different pieces of land.  He also learned  that the man hadn't landed on any of them.  So he wanted to find them and explore them.  The first one he found was all rocks.  The second one he found was really rugged.  He found the third one and it was very beautiful and had lots of plants and trees.  He called it Vinland.  They built a settlement there and stayed for about a year.  Then they sailed back to Greenland.  They had a hard winter and his father died.  He had to sell all he brought home.  He never made it back to Vinland.  He discovered America about 500 years before Columbus.