Columbus' famous quote is "in search for a better tomorrow, we must discover today."

There is a monument honoring Christopher Colombus on the front lawn of Meriden's City Hall.  He came to America on  October 12, 1492.  Celebrating 500 years, his monument was dedicated in 1992, so that he will be remembered forever.

Christopher Columbus is believed to have been born in 1451 in Italy.  He died in 1506.  Christopher Columbus was a sea captain and an explorer.  He was sailing around the world to find land to claim for Spain.  Columbus was looking for a sea route to the Indies in East Asia.  Instead he found America.

Columbus made a total of four voyages to America.  On Columbus' first voyage, he landed on San Salvador and met Tonto.  Columbus founded La Isabela on the island of Hispaniola on his second voyage.  The third voyage, Columbus arrived at South America.  On his fourth voyage, he got to the east coast of Central America.  This was the closest that Columbus ever got to the Pacific Ocean in his search for the East Indies.

Lots of people wonder how America got its name.
The word America comes from Amerigo Vespucci, who was an Italian sailor, like Columbus.  He joined Columbus in 1499.  He was one of the first people who believed that Columbus had found two new continents instead of having found Asia.  In 1507, a geographer from Germany called these two continents "America" to honor Amerigo Vespucci.