Please give some famous explorers from ancient and modern times at home and abroad and their deeds. Just talk about them briefly. Let’s talk about the significance of exploration. Thank you.

Christopher Columbus

Christopher Columbus 1451 AD to 1506 AD

Columbus accidentally discovered the American continent while searching for a westward route from Western Europe to Asia. . This had a greater impact on world history than he himself could have possibly anticipated. His discovery was a major turning point in history, ushering in a new era of development and colonization of the New World. At that time, the European population was expanding. With this discovery, Europeans had two new continents to settle in, and they had mineral resources and raw materials that could change the European economy. This discovery led to the destruction of American Indian civilization. From a long-term perspective, it has also led to the emergence of some new countries in the Western Hemisphere. These nations were distinct from the various Indian tribes that had settled in the area, and they greatly influenced the nations of the Old World.

The outlines of Columbus's deeds are well known. He was born in Genoa, Italy in 1451. When he grew up, he became a captain and was a skilled navigator. He was finally convinced that a practical sea route to East Asia could be found from the Atlantic Ocean in the west. He was determined to turn this vision into reality. He finally convinced Queen Isabella I, who funded his expedition.

His large and small ships set sail from Spain on August 3, 1492, and their first stop was the Canary Islands located near the African coastline. Set off from the island on September 6 and sailed westward. It was a long voyage, and the sailors were extremely frightened and wanted to turn back, but Columbus insisted on moving forward, and land appeared in their sights on October 12, 1492.

Columbus returned to Spain in March of the following year. The explorer who returned triumphantly was awarded the highest honor. He then made three more voyages across the Atlantic in an attempt to find a direct route to China or Japan. Columbus insisted that he had found a road to East Asia. Most people had long realized that it was not a road to East Asia, but he still thought he was right.

Isabella promised Columbus that he would be governor of any land he discovered. But he was incompetent as an administrator and was eventually dismissed and sent back to Spain in chains. He was quickly released in Spain, but was not allowed to hold any official office. The common rumor that he died in poverty is unfounded. He died in 1506 quite wealthy.

Obviously Columbus's first voyage had a revolutionary impact on European history, even greater than the impact on the American continent. The year 1492 is known to every schoolchild. But there are likely to be several objections to ranking Columbus so high in this volume.

One objection is that Columbus was not the first European to discover the New World. Pirate sailor Leif Erikson arrived in America hundreds of years before him. It seems to be believed that several other Europeans crossed the Atlantic during this period of pirate sailors and Columbus. But historically speaking, Leif Ericson was a relatively insignificant figure. News of his discovery never spread widely, nor did it cause any major changes in Europe or the United States. But news of Columbus's discovery soon spread throughout Europe. Within a few years of his return, there were many expeditions to the New World, and the conquest and colonization of new territories began as a direct result of his discoveries.

The point about Columbus, like some of the other characters in this book, is that his discoveries would have been made by others even without him. Europe in the fifteenth century had become a land of great excitement: commerce and trade were developing in all directions, and exploration activities were inevitable. In fact, the Portuguese had been actively looking for a new road to the Indies for a long time before Columbus.

It does seem possible that the Europeans will discover the United States sooner or later, and perhaps not even for a long time. But if it were not Columbus's expedition in 1492, but the French or the British who first discovered the United States in 1510, the subsequent development would be completely different.

A third possible objection is that many fifteenth-century Europeans knew that the Earth was round before Columbus's voyages. This theory had been proposed by Greek philosophers many centuries ago and was strongly endorsed by Aristotle, so it would have been recognized by educated Europeans in the fourteenth century. But Columbus is not famous for proving that the earth is round (in fact, he was not really successful in this regard), but for discovering the New World. Neither Europeans nor Aristotle in the fifteenth century knew that America existed.

Columbus's character was not entirely endearing to the world. He is extremely greedy. In fact, the important reason why he couldn't persuade Isabella to provide him with funds for a while was because he was greedy and always bargained. In addition, he treated the Indians with unimaginable cruelty. Still, it's probably unfair to judge him by today's moral standards. But this is not a book about the most noble characters in history, but a book about the most influential people in history. According to this standard, Columbus should be among the best

Columbus's fleet

On August 3, 1492, Columbus was sent by the King of Spain with letters of credence to the Indian monarch and the Chinese Emperor. , led three sailing ships of about 100 tons, sailed out of the Atlantic Ocean from Port Barros, Spain, and sailed straight west. After seventy days and nights of arduous sailing, land was finally discovered in the early morning of October 12, 1492. Columbus thought he had reached India. It was later learned that the land Columbus landed on belonged to the Bahamas Islands in what is now the Palestinian Sea in Central America. He named it San Salvador at the time.

On March 15, 1493, Columbus returned to Spain. After that he repeated his westward voyage three times and landed on many coasts of America. Until his death in 1506, he believed he had arrived in India. Later, an Italian scholar named Amerigo, after more investigation, realized that the places Columbus arrived were not India, but a new continent that was previously unknown. Columbus discovered the New World. However, this continent was named after the person who confirmed that it was the New World: America.