Resolution Criteria

This market resolves YES if historical records confirm that Christopher Columbus made landfall in the Americas on October 12, 1492. It resolves NO if historical evidence indicates he did not reach the Americas on that date.

Background

Christopher Columbus, an Italian explorer sailing under the Spanish flag, embarked on a westward voyage across the Atlantic Ocean in 1492, seeking a new route to Asia. On October 12, 1492, Columbus and his crew landed on an island in the Bahamas, which he named San Salvador. This marked the first documented European contact with the Caribbean since the Norse expeditions centuries earlier.

Considerations

• Columbus did not actually reach the mainland of what is now the United States during this voyage, but rather landed on an island in the Bahamas.

• Columbus believed he had reached the East Indies, not a new continent, which is why he referred to the indigenous peoples he encountered as "Indians."

• The Americas were already inhabited by indigenous peoples for thousands of years before Columbus's arrival.

• Some evidence suggests other Europeans, such as Norse explorer Leif Erikson, reached parts of North America around 500 years before Columbus.