Christopher Columbus (ca 1446 - 1506), Italian explorer who believed that the Earth was round, and that trade routes with Asia could be established by sailing westwards. In August 1492, with eighty-seven men and three ships (Nina, Pinta and Santa Maria) he setsail for the west and discovered the Western Hemisphere. The inhabitants of San Salvador (the first place that Columbus landed in the Western Hemisphere) believed that Columbus and his men were "men from heaven" and offered them all they had. —SHSBC Binder 30 Approved Glossary