Christopher Columbus departs Palos de la Frontera, Spain, with three ships in search of a westward route to Asia.

After a ten-week Atlantic crossing, a lookout aboard the Pinta spotted land, and Columbus's three ships made landfall in the Bahamas the next day.

Christopher Columbus and his crew made first contact with the Lucayan people of the Bahamas, exchanging trinkets for local goods on the second day after landfall.

Christopher Columbus and his crew continued exploring the Bahamian islands, a day after making first landfall, naming and charting islands they believed lay near Asia.

Christopher Columbus and his crew sighted the island they named Hispaniola, landing days later to encounter the Taíno people.