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Christopher Columbus is famous because he found something he wasn't looking for.
In 1492, Columbus sailed across the Atlantic Ocean in order to reach India. What he found was something far different. He found the New World. How did this come about? It all started in Italy.
Christopher Columbus was born in Genoa in 1451. His family didn't have a lot of money, and Christopher wasn't an only child. He didn't have much of an education until he was much older. Instead, he went to sea. He sailed around the Mediterranean(地中海) and as far north as England and Ireland.
During his travels, Columbus heard the reports of land to the west of the Madeira and Azores Islands. They were in the Atlantic Ocean west of Portugal. He wanted to know more and got maps and books on geography.
Marco Polo said that Japan was only 1,500 miles east of China. As a result, Columbus thought that Japan was only 3,000 miles west of Portugal. And 3,000 miles was a distance that ships could travel in those days.
So, Columbus decided that he wanted to get to the East by going west. He thought that if he sailed far enough west, he would sail around the world enough to reach the East. Based on his calculations(计算), Japan was only 3,000 miles away, after all.