Where did Christopher Columbus land when he first discovered America?

Answer 1

Watlings Island?This debate has been going on for more that 500 years. The truth is....nobody really knows were Columbus first stepped foot on the New World. If you want a good guess, most historians have agreed on Guanahani Island which today is known as Watling Island in the Bahama's. The reason for the debate is that Christopher Columbus was notorious for keeping inaccurate logs on distance throughout the first voyage. In fact, Columbus did this on purpose. Columbus was a sailor who sailed by "Dead Reckoning" and he was an expert at it. As far as a mathematical sailor--- he was not. Columbus did keep a detailed diary of every day activities. Through this diary log, it can be determined that the physical description given by Columbus himself (and with his inaccurate but useful position logs) Watlings Island is the most PROBABLE landing site of Christopher Columbus. To this day there have been search crews combing the Bahamas for the wreckage of the Santa Maria which sank by accident on Christmas, 1492. This would yield indisputable proof of the first landfall. Unfortunately, no such wreckage has ever been found.
The first place Christopher Columbus landed was the Caribbean Islands. His first attempt at settlement was on Hispaniola.