Christopher Columbus was born in Genoa, Italy to a lower middle class family. He began sailing at age 14 and had a long career of both triumph and misery, including being attacked by pirates at sea. After learning navigation techniques from the Portuguese, Columbus was inspired by Marco Polo's travels to sail west across the Atlantic to reach Asia. He proposed this plan to King John of Portugal and later the Spanish monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella, but they initially rejected the idea due to concerns about the feasibility of the route. Columbus eventually convinced Isabella to fund an expedition, launching his historic voyage that opened the door to European colonization of the Americas.
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