When did Columbus reach the Americas?

Sailing for the Spanish monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella, Columbus left Palos, Spain, on 3 August 1492 with three ships: the Niña, the Pinta and the Santa María. He was trying to reach Asia by sailing west and believed he had arrived in the East Indies. He landed on an island the local Taíno people called Guanahani, which he named San Salvador. Columbus made four voyages across the Atlantic between 1492 and 1504, reaching the Caribbean and the coasts of Central and South America. Norse explorers led by Leif Erikson had reached North America around 500 years earlier.