 Christopher Columbus was the first European to see Jamaica, claiming the island for Spain after landing there in 1494 on his second voyage to the Americas.His probable landing point was Dry Harbour, called Discovery Bay, and St. Ann's Bay was named "Saint Gloria" by Columbus, as the first sighting of the land.He later returned in 1503; however, he was shipwrecked and he and his crew were forced to live on Jamaica for a year whilst waiting to be rescued.