Columbus' Quest for Gold

Christopher Columbus sailed from Spain in 1492, but he wasn't Spanish. People claim he was Italian, but he wasn't quite that either. So what exactly is his story?

Though he didn't produce much profit for the monarchs of Spain, Columbus opened a path to the new world for all of Europe.

French explorer Jacques Cartier named Canada after "kanata," the Huron-Iroquois word for settlement. Learn more about his search for a passage to East Asia and how he laid the original French claim for Canada in this video.

Hernando De Soto began his career in exploration at age 14 when he traveled to the West Indies. Find out how he became known as the first European to discover the Mississippi River in this video.