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Christopher Columbus was an Italian navigator who wanted to find a plan to get to Asia. Columbus's plan was to sail across the Atlantic Ocean to get to Asia to try and trade with them. However, he needed someone to finance the trip. In 1492, Ferdinand and Isabella financed the trip. Columbus outfitted three ships: Santa Maria, the Nina, and the Pinta. Christopher Columbus left Spain in 1492 and headed west. When he went towards that way, he sighted the island of San Salvador and he claimed the land for Spain. During his exploration, he explored Cuba and Hispaniola When he came there, he thought that he was in Asia and he conducted three more voyages to the region. Thanks to Columbus, Europeans found two huge continents in the Americas that Columbus conquered.
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Ferdinand Magellan tried to finish what Columbus set out to do. Magellan left Spain in 1520. Like Christopher Columbus, he headed west to sail around the America and then all the way to Asia. While trying to get to Asia, he sailed south along South America and he found a way around the continent. The new passage that he found is now called Strait of Magellan. After Magellan and his sailors passed through a stormy strait, the ship started to enter a vast sea. The vast sea was peaceful or pacific. Now that peaceful sea is called the Pacific Sea. Magellan and his crew went through harsh times. The sailors nearly starved and had to eat leather, sawdust, and rats. After four months at sea, they reached the Philippines. Some local people from the Philippines killed Magellan. However, instead of his crew giving up on his voyage, they continued to head west across the Indian Ocean, around Africa, and back to Spain. Magellan's crew was known as people circumnavigates which mean sail around the world.