Who discovered America? who discovered America Official discoverer of America is considered to be the Spaniard Christopher Columbus, who visited America in 1492 on the orders of the Spanish king. However, the Europeans and the Chinese sailed to America long before Columbus. Columbus expedition to the coast of Central and South America is considered to be the earliest and most complete of reliably known. Total Columbus made four whole voyage to America, the first of which (August 1492 - March 1493) and is considered by historians the "official" discovery of America. 1492 expedition consisted of three ships with a total of about 90 man crews.
The discovery of America was originally seen as finding new ways to Asia (the so-called West Indies), so the local population of public lands and became known as the Indians. October 13, 1492 Columbus landed on the island in the Caribbean Sea, which is now known as San Salvador. The discovery of America was the beginning of the colonial era, when the major European powers (Spain, Portugal, England and the Netherlands) conquered the newly discovered lands were taken out jewels and build new settlements. And only in the XIX-XX centuries the colonial regime fell in America formed a number of independent states.
The name "America", however, is considered to be derived from the name of another traveler - the Italian Amerigo Vespucci. For the first time we see this name on the German map 1507 model year. Apparently, the map author mistakenly thought it was Vespucci and not Columbus, the man who discovered America. It is believed that Vespucci could not even know that it was named in honor of an entire continent.