On this day, 533 years ago, August 3, 1492 (July 11, 1492 in the lunar calendar), the Italian bandit leader and navigator Columbus made his first voyage. Columbus Expedition led by the "Santa Maria" Columbus On August 3, 1492, the Italian navigator Columbus (1451-1506) finally realized his sailing plan and led a fleet of three sailboats to set sail from Port Barros in Spain in the early morning before the sun rose. His fleet was led by the Santa Maria, which had a deadweight of about 100 tons (with a total of 39 crew members and sailors on board), and the Pinta (26 crew members) and the Ninia (22 crew members), which had a deadweight of about 50 tons. The fleet is equipped with interpreters who understand Arabic, secretaries (responsible for formally recording the places and people discovered) and auditors. Each ship is equipped with experienced shipping experts as captains, and the crew is composed of some excellent and capable seafarers, which is very important for successful ocean navigation. Columbus commanded the entire fleet on the ship Santa Maria. He first sailed southwest, then turned to the west in early September and sailed into the vast Atlantic Ocean. Looking up at the ocean and not seeing a piece of land after sailing for a month or two, many crew members complained and cursed. However, Columbus insisted on sailing west. He firmly believed that the earth was round. As long as he kept sailing west, he could reach China, Japan and India, which are rich in gold, spices and other valuables. After more than two months of arduous sailing, on October 12, Columbus's fleet finally discovered an island in the Central American Bahamas (today's Waterlin Island), and then discovered Cuba, Haiti and other islands. After discovering the first island, Waterlin Island, Columbus held his first landing ceremony on a steep slope. He landed in a small boat, and the captains of the other two boats followed him on land. When the residents on the island saw these strangely dressed people, some hid in the jungle in fear, some peeped in hidden places curiously, and some dared to give gifts to visitors. With tears of joy, Columbus and everyone knelt on the ground, stroked the land, and thanked God. Columbus then stood up and announced that he would name the island San Salvador, the Holy Savior. Columbus mistakenly thought that the place they found was a dependency of India, so he later called this area the West Indies and the residents here Indians. Seville, a city in southern Spain, was originally called Port Barros. The picture shows an oil painting painted by B.E.Murillo (1617-1682), a famous painter of the Seville School in Spain: The West Indies Fleet returns to the Guadalquivir River in Seville. Comments The great sailing journey has begun, and the world will change