Christopher Columbus (1452 - 1506), a Genoese sailor in the service of Spain, sets sail westward across the Atlantic in search of the Cathay, China. Instead he reaches the West Indies and South America. In 1494, Columbus is the first to use the term "New World" to describe the Americas, a continent that no European had dreamt of. His voyages helped make Spain a major European power with control over much of the Caribbean and the Americas.