Christopher Columbus was born in 1451 in genoa.in the late 1200 polo had journeyed to Asia and bought back gold, jewels, and spices from china. Columbus was also interested in exploring these faraway lands.
so, around the age of 15 ,Columbus became a sailor. He sailed on ships that went south along the coast of Africa and north to Ireland. They may have gone to Iceland.
the Portuguese were trying to get to Asia by sailing south around the tip of of Africa.
in the 1400s, people knew much less about the world than is know today. Columbus thought the earth was smaller than it was.