Columbus Reaches Hispaniola: First European on the Island
Columbus stepped onto Hispaniola's beach and called it "La Isla Española" — the Spanish Island. The Taíno people who met him numbered around 400,000. They wore gold jewelry, which Columbus noted immediately in his log. Within 56 years, Spanish colonization and disease reduced the Taíno population to fewer than 500. The island became Europe's first foothold in the Americas, launching three centuries of colonial rule that split it into two nations speaking different languages. That beach landing didn't discover a new world. It ended one.
December 5, 1492
534 years ago
Key Figures & Places
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