Then it began, we changed the world. We searched for land, gold and spices. After seventeen days we met some native people. We travelled for forty two days more. They have several tools that we might have used. We kept track of our position using a method called dead reckoning. 1492 christopher columbus sailed across the atlantic ocean and accidentally landed on islands off the coast of the Americans. As news spread about what he had found, people from all over Europe wanted to explore the world. This happened 5000 years ago.