Columbus

[Breannab90]

if columbus had fail to complete the voyage, who or what country would have done it and under what circumstances?

[jno]

the Vikings already had.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norse_colonizatio n_of_the_Americas

[Buenchico]

As Jno points out, Leif Ericson got there 500 years before Columbus.

Columbus sought funding from any available source in his quest to find a western route to the Orient. He started with Portugal, then tried his native Italy (or, more accurately, the Venetian court). He also asked for financial support, through his brother, from England. Henry VIII eventually agreed to finance the project but his support came too late because Columbus had already found backing from Spain.

So, if Columbus had failed on his original mission (but safely returned home) he might have tried again under the English flag. (Actually, of course, Columbus failed anyway, since he never found a western route to the Orient).

If Columbus's ship had sunk (or he couldn't obtain further funding elsewhere) any future quest would have required the funding from one of the major European courts, such as those of Venice, Rome, Portugal or England.

Chis

[VHG]

I believe Columbus never set on foot on mainland America anyway.

He landed on the West indies (he called it Indies because he thought he had got round to India)

[heathfield]

The Portugese were already fishing on Newfoundland's Grand Banks when Columbus made his trip. They kept this a closely guarded secret, and were apalled when they learned of Columbus' voyage - they thought that Spain would lay claim to all these western lands, leaving the Portugese out in the cold. So they approached the Pope, ans suggested that Spain christianise the western heathens, while Portugal christianise those in the east. They also suggested the location for the demarcation line to be drawn down the rough middle of the Atlantic. Unfortunately, they got the longitude of Newfoundland wrong. It was further west than they thought, and it ended up under Spanish influence. But the line did run through the eastern side of South America, and is the reason for Brazil's borders on the coast being where they are today.
Undoubtetly, if Columbus hadn't made it, once the Portugese had heard about his voyage they would have been falling over themselves in trying to get to the Americas and claim them. Alas, they'd not got the money to fund a large expedition, or they might have done it before Columbus.

[wexfordwhite]

Brendan the Navigator, an Irish monk of early Christian times, made the journey from Ireland some 1500 years ago. After passing the Faeroe Islands, Iceland and Greenland, he finally arrived in Newfoundland. The journey was replicated some 30 years ago by Tim Severin and a small international crew using an exact replica of the type of boat Brendan would have used