Columbus Returns: The Dawn of European Colonization
Christopher Columbus returned to Palos de la Frontera, Spain, on March 15, 1493, after a seven-month voyage that had taken him to the Bahamas, Cuba, and Hispaniola. He brought back gold trinkets, exotic parrots, a few tobacco leaves, and six Taino captives whom he presented to Ferdinand and Isabella as proof of his discovery. The monarchs were thrilled. Columbus was paraded through the streets, appointed Viceroy of the Indies, and immediately authorized to mount a second expedition with seventeen ships and over 1,200 men. The consequences were catastrophic for the indigenous populations: European diseases, particularly smallpox, preceded the colonizers and devastated communities that had no natural immunity. Within fifty years, the Taino population of Hispaniola collapsed from roughly 250,000 to fewer than 500. Columbus himself never realized he had found a new continent. He died in 1506 still insisting he had reached the eastern coast of Asia.
March 15, 1493
533 years ago
Key Figures & Places
What Else Happened on March 15
He walked into Rome on foot instead of riding a chariot — and the crowd knew exactly what that meant. Aulus Manlius Vulso's ovation for ending the war with Veii…
A group of Roman senators stabbed Julius Caesar to death on March 15, 44 BC, in the Theatre of Pompey, where the Senate was meeting while the Curia Julia was be…
The conspirators cornered Julius Caesar in the portico of Pompey's Theatre on March 15, 44 BC, with Tillius Cimber presenting a petition as the signal to attack…
He was selling straw sandals when the empire fell apart. Liu Bei's bloodline connected him to the Han emperors, but through a prince from 150 years earlier—dist…
Sun Hao of Eastern Wu surrendered to the Jin emperor Sima Yan, ending the Three Kingdoms period that had fractured China for decades. This capitulation unified …
He'd already killed most of his family. But Constantius II was desperate — Persian armies threatened the eastern frontier while he fought usurpers in the West, …
Talk to History
Have a conversation with historical figures who witnessed this era. Ask questions, explore perspectives, and bring history to life.