Stock Photo - Discovery of the Americas - Christopher Columbus. Volume II of M. Alfonso de Lamartine. Cristobal Colon en un brindes por la victoria od christianism over muslim world. The discovery of the Americas was made possible by Christopher Columbus in 1492, when he sailed across the Atlantic Ocean from Europe. He made landfall in what is now the Bahamas, and explored other islands in the Caribbean, including Cuba and Hispaniola. Columbus also reached South America, landing in present-day Venezuela. His goal was to find a trading route to India, but instead he helped to initiate the Age of Discovery and the colonization of the Americas by European powers