When did Christopher Columbus reach America?
Columbus reaches America
Colón llega a América
12 October 1492. Christopher Columbus, a sailor most historians agree came from Genoa, persuaded Isabel and Fernando to back a voyage west to Asia; the agreement was signed at…
Where: Spain, The Spanish Caribbean, The whole Spanish-speaking world, The Bahamas, Dominican Republic
What happened
Christopher Columbus, a sailor most historians agree came from Genoa, persuaded Isabel and Fernando to back a voyage west to Asia; the agreement was signed at Santa Fe, outside Granada, on 17 April 1492. Three ships left Palos on 3 August, and on 12 October a sailor on the Pinta saw land: an island in the Bahamas that its Taíno people called Guanahaní and Columbus named San Salvador. Which island it was is still debated, and Columbus believed he had reached Asia. His voyage began the conquest of the Americas. 12 October is Spain's national day, the Fiesta Nacional; in Latin America the date is contested.
Say it
El 12 de octubre es la Fiesta Nacional de España.
12 October is Spain's national day.
Why it matters
It is the moment Spanish crossed the Atlantic. Within a generation the language had new words from Taíno (canoa, hamaca, maíz) and a second continent of speakers.
Read about it
- Cristóbal Colón, 1492 — Christopher Columbus, 1492
- Los taínos y las palabras del Caribe — The Taíno and the Words of the Caribbean
Connected
- Seseo and ceceo: how s and z merged (c. 1450–1650)
- The Columbian exchange (1492–1800)
- The demographic collapse of the Americas (1492–1650)
- The demographic collapse of the Americas (1492–1650)
- Words from the languages of the Americas (1492–)
- Words from the languages of the Americas (1492–)
- Nebrija's Castilian grammar (1492)
- The expulsion of the Jews (31 March 1492)
- The Treaty of Tordesillas (7 June 1494)
- The Treaty of Tordesillas (7 June 1494)
- Voseo: where vos survives and why (c. 1500–)
- Spanish today: almost 635 million speakers (28 October 2025)
- Before: The expulsion of the Jews
- After: The Treaty of Tordesillas
Sources
- Christopher Columbus — World History Encyclopedia
- Treaty of Tordesillas — World History Encyclopedia