User:Jsengupt/sandbox

Through its separation from Africa, Europe, and Asia from the Americas, the Atlantic Ocean has played a central role in the development of human society, globalization, and the histories of many nations. While the Norse were the first humans to cross the Atlantic, it was the 1492 expedition of Christopher Columbus that proved to be the most consequential. Columbus's expedition ushered in an age of exploration and colonization of the Americas by European powers, most notably Spain, France, Portugal, and the United Kingdom. From the 16th to 19th centuries, the Atlantic Ocean was the center of both an eponymous slave trade and the Columbian exchange while occasionally hosting naval battles. Such naval battles, as well as growing trade from regional American powers like the United States and Brazil, both increased in degree during the 20th century, and while no major military conflicts took place in the Atlantic in the present 21st century, the ocean remains a core component of trade across the world.