TODAY IN HISTORY: Columbus sights Trinidad (July 31, 1498)

On July 31, 1498, during his third voyage, explorer Christopher Columbus made his first recorded European sighting of the island of Trinidad. He had vowed to name the first land he encountered after the Holy Trinity, and upon seeing three prominent peaks on the horizon, he christened the island “La Trinidad,” in honor of the Christian concept of the Holy Trinity. The peaks Columbus saw are believed to be part of the Trinity Hills in southern Trinidad.

However, long before Columbus’s arrival, Trinidad was already home to Indigenous peoples, including the Caribs and Arawaks. Archaeological evidence suggests that these communities had been living on the island for thousands of years, establishing thriving cultures and complex trade networks across the Caribbean. Columbus’s arrival in 1498 marked a significant moment in history, initiating European colonization that would have a lasting and often devastating impact on the island’s native populations.