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Christopher Columbus
(Explorer)
Birth Year: 1451
Birthplace: Genoa, Italy
Died: May 20, 1506
Christopher Columbus, an Italian explorer and navigator, undertook four Spanish-sponsored voyages across the Atlantic Ocean. His expeditions facilitated European exploration and colonization of the Americas, establishing the initial European contact with the Caribbean, Central, and South America. Columbus possessed expertise in geography, astronomy, and history, formulating a strategy to discover a western sea route to the East Indies. His journeys marked the onset of an era characterized by exploration, conquest, and colonization, catalyzing the Columbian exchange and heralding the dawn of the modern age.