=The Leading Facts.= _1._ Columbus was born near the shores of the Mediterranean and trained for the sea by study and by experience. _2._ The people of Europe traded with the Far East, but the Turks destroyed their trade routes. _3._ Columbus was drawn to Portugal because of Prince Henry's great work. _4._ Columbus thought he could reach the rich cities of the East by sailing west. _5._ After many discouragements he won aid from Isabella and discovered the Bahama Islands, Cuba, and Haiti. _6._ The king and queen of Spain received Columbus with great ceremony. _7._ Columbus made three more voyages, but was disappointed in not finding the rich cities of India. _8._ Ponce de Leon sailed from Porto Rico to find a land of which strange stories had been told of riches and of a fountain of eternal youth. _9._ He reached Florida on Easter Sunday, 1513. _10._ Eight years later he returned to found a settlement. _11._ He was attacked by the Indians, wounded, and forced to return to Porto Rico, where he died of his wounds. _12._ His is the distinction of being the first white man to plant a settlement in the United States after the discovery of America by Columbus. _13._ Cortés marched against a rich city, afterward called Mexico, captured the ruler, and fought great battles with the people. _14._ Cortés captured the city and ruled it for several years. _15._ From this time on Mexico gradually filled with Spanish settlers. _16._ Pizarro invaded Peru, the richest of all countries, and captured and put to death the ruler. _17._ Pizarro was killed by his own men. _18._ Coronado marched north from Mexico into Arizona and New Mexico, but found no rich cities. _19._ He wandered into the great prairies and the rocky country of Colorado but finally turned back in disappointment. _20._ De Soto wandered over the country east of the Rocky Mountains in search of rich cities, but found a great river, the Mississippi, and later was buried in its waters. _21._ Hence the Spaniards, eager for gold, went to Mexico and South America rather than farther to the north. _22._ Columbus thought the world was round, but Magellan proved it. _23._ Magellan sailed around South America into the Pacific Ocean, and across this new sea to the Philippine Islands, where he was killed. _24._ His ship reached Spain--the first to sail around the world.