October 12, 1492Primary sourceWell documented
Columbus Reaches the Americas
On the timeline · around October 12, 1492 ·
What happened
Sailing west for Spain in search of Asia, Christopher Columbus made landfall in the Caribbean on October 12, 1492. He never reached the mainland of North America, but his voyages opened permanent contact between the Old World and the New — and touched off the vast, two-way transfer of people, plants, animals, and diseases known as the Columbian Exchange.
Why it matters
1492 began the European colonization of the Americas and a demographic catastrophe for Indigenous peoples, tens of millions of whom died from introduced diseases. The Columbian Exchange reshaped diets, economies, and populations across the globe.
Sources
- Library of Congress. 1492: An Ongoing Voyage · Primary source
Related timelines
- The Age of Exploration → — The European voyages of discovery