Columbus

Coumbus was a boatman.  When he was young a pirate ship attacked him.  He floated to shore on a piece of wood.  He floated to Portugal.  Portugal was good at boating and he learned from them.  He became a god boatman and a sea captain.  He wanted to go on trip but he didn't have the money, so he begged the king and queen of Spain.  They kept saying no because they had been in a war and didn't have much money.  But finally after a few years they agreed and he got the money.  He got three ships called the Pinta, the Nina, and the Santa Maria.  He left.  He was trying to get to India but he was going west instead of around Africa.  He went to an island and he saw some people there and he called them Indians because he thought he was in India, but he wasn't.  He went back to Spain and they thought he was amazing.  He went back three times still trying to get to India, but he didn't ever get there.  Columbus discovered a new land.  It wasn't really India.  It was America.

Prince Henry the Navigator

Prince Henry lived in Portugal.  He wanted to the Indies by sailing so he could get spices.  He wanted to find a quicker way than on foot, going by ships instead.  But he didn't have the right stuff.  He built a school and a library.  There he improved the compass and he improved other sailing tools.  He brought good ship people to his school and they helped each other learn more.  They helped try to figure out how big the earth was and how they could get to the Indies.  He worked at it for a long time but never actually got to sail before he died.  He also helped make a different kind of ship.  It was kind of ship that Christoffer Columbus sailed in later.

Leif Erikson

Leif Erikson was a Viking.  He wanted to go to a place that a guy told him about while Leif was at his house.  He went and tried to find the place.  He landed on an island that was really rocky so he went on.  He found a second island that was very rugged, and he still went on.  Finally he found a third place.  It was amazing.  It had trees and food and sand.  He built houses and explored and stayed there for a year.  Then he sailed back to Greenland where he lived.  He wanted to go back but he never got to before his life ended.  He was the first European to go to the American Continent.