Rumors of great lands to the west were spread far and wide on the European continent, a lot of them from accounts of Marco Polo’s travels in the 13th century. The Spanish monarchy decided it was time to explore some of those lands, and claim what they could for themselves. They hired on an intrepid seaman named Christopher Columbus and gave him command of three ships.

On this day, March 15, in 1493 Christopher Columbus returned from the first of an eventual three voyages he would make to explore the fabled lands.

On that particular voyage, Columbus explored the island of Hispanola and parts of Cuba. On Cuba, following the stories of Marco Polo, he spent weeks searching for the Asian population and their gold. Neither was found, but at least both the islands were laid claim to by Spain.