Quiz on Christopher Columbus

In what year did Columbus first reach the Americas?

• 1487
• 1492 ✓ (Correct answer)
• 1498
• 1503

Source: 1492 became one of history's most memorized dates, yet he never set foot on the North American mainland.

Under which country's flag did Columbus make his famous first voyage?

• Portugal
• Spain ✓ (Correct answer)
• Italy
• England

Source: Born in Genoa, Italy, he sailed for the Spanish crown after Portugal turned him down.

How many ships made up Columbus's first fleet?

• Two
• Three ✓ (Correct answer)
• Four
• Five

Source: Just three small ships crossed an ocean nobody in Europe had ever mapped.

Which royal couple funded Columbus's first expedition?

• Ferdinand and Isabella ✓ (Correct answer)
• Henry and Catherine
• Louis and Anne
• Charles and Joanna

Source: Isabella of Castile famously backed him after years of rejections across Europe's courts.

How many voyages across the Atlantic did Columbus make in total?

• Two
• Three
• Four ✓ (Correct answer)
• Six

Source: He crossed four times but died still insisting he had found a route to Asia, not a new continent.

Which sea did Columbus primarily explore on his voyages?

• Mediterranean Sea
• Caribbean Sea ✓ (Correct answer)
• Sargasso Sea
• Coral Sea

Source: He charted Caribbean islands for years but only touched the South American coast on his third trip.

What did Columbus mistakenly believe he had reached?

• The Indies ✓ (Correct answer)
• Africa
• Arabia
• Persia

Source: His error is why Caribbean islands are still called the West Indies and Natives were called Indians.

What was the name of Columbus's flagship on the 1492 voyage?

• La Niña
• La Pinta
• Santa María ✓ (Correct answer)
• San Salvador

Source: The Santa María ran aground off Hispaniola on Christmas night and was never sailed home.

On which large island did Columbus establish his first colony?

• Cuba
• Hispaniola ✓ (Correct answer)
• Jamaica
• Puerto Rico

Source: Hispaniola, today shared by Haiti and the Dominican Republic, hosted his ill-fated La Navidad fort.

From which European port did Columbus set sail in 1492?

• Lisbon
• Cádiz
• Palos de la Frontera ✓ (Correct answer)
• Seville

Source: The small Andalusian port of Palos supplied two of his three ships as a royal penalty payment.

What goods was Columbus mainly seeking a sea route to obtain?

• Gold and ivory
• Spices and silk ✓ (Correct answer)
• Furs and timber
• Salt and sugar

Source: The lucrative Asian spice and silk trade, controlled overland, drove Europe's race to find a sea path.

After whom was America ultimately named, instead of Columbus?

• Amerigo Vespucci ✓ (Correct answer)
• John Cabot
• Vasco da Gama
• Ferdinand Magellan

Source: A mapmaker chose Vespucci's name because he, unlike Columbus, recognized it as a new continent.

What was the first land Columbus named upon arrival in 1492?

• Santa María
• San Salvador ✓ (Correct answer)
• La Española
• Trinidad

Source: He named the Bahamian island San Salvador, meaning 'Holy Savior,' in thanks for survival.

Columbus underestimated which measurement, making his plan seem feasible?

• The ocean's depth
• Earth's circumference ✓ (Correct answer)
• The ships' speed
• The crew's size

Source: He thought Earth far smaller than scholars knew; only an unknown continent saved his starving crew.

How did Columbus's third voyage end for him personally?

• Lost at sea
• Arrested in chains ✓ (Correct answer)
• Crowned governor
• Shipwrecked alone

Source: A royal investigator shipped him back to Spain in chains over his brutal colonial rule.

On his final voyage, where was Columbus stranded for a year?

• Cuba
• Jamaica ✓ (Correct answer)
• Panama
• Honduras

Source: Marooned for a year, he awed locals with an astronomical trick to demand food.

What title did Columbus negotiate for himself before sailing?

• Admiral of the Ocean Sea ✓ (Correct answer)
• Duke of the Indies
• Captain of Castile
• Lord of Hispaniola

Source: His contract promised him the grand hereditary title 'Admiral of the Ocean Sea' plus a cut of profits.

How did Columbus reportedly reassure his nervous crew during the long crossing?

• Falsified the distance log ✓ (Correct answer)
• Promised extra gold
• Doubled food rations
• Threatened mutineers

Source: He kept two logs, telling sailors they had sailed less far than they truly had to ease their fears.

Which natural event did Columbus exploit to intimidate the natives feeding his stranded crew?

• A solar eclipse
• A lunar eclipse ✓ (Correct answer)
• A hurricane
• A meteor shower

Source: Using an almanac, he 'made the moon vanish,' terrifying locals into resupplying his stranded men.

What is the disputed final resting place of Columbus's remains?

• Genoa, Italy
• Seville, Spain ✓ (Correct answer)
• Lisbon, Portugal
• Valladolid, Spain

Source: His bones crossed the Atlantic repeatedly; Seville's cathedral and the Dominican Republic both claim them.