Video: 'Columbus Day: Christopher Columbus Sets Sail | History'

(Friday, August 3, 1492, evening local time) — Italian explorer and navigator Christopher Columbus departed from Palos de la Frontera, Spain, with three ships today on his first voyage across the Atlantic Ocean that would take him to the present-day Americas, opening the way for the widespread European exploration and colonization of the Americas.

Video: '3rd August 1492: Christopher Columbus sets sail from Spain'

The largest of the three ships was a carrack, the Santa María, owned and captained by Juan de la Cosa, and under Columbus’s direct command. The other two were smaller caravels, the Pinta and the Niña, piloted by the Pinzón brothers.

Columbus first sailed to the Canary Islands. There he restock provisions and make repairs then depart from San Sebastián de La Gomera on Sept. 6 for what turned out to be a five-week voyage across the ocean.

They would reach land at Guanahani, an island in the Caribbean, on Oct. 12, 1492.