It is the widespread exchange of cultural habits, people, diseases, technology, and a variety of plant and animal species between the Americas and the rest of the world that happened during the 15th and 16th centuries. The Columbian Exchange followed the successful voyage to the Americas by Italian explorer Christopher Columbus in 1492, which paved the way for the colonisation of the Americas by many European powers. Previous voyages failed to have a similar impact. The term was coined by American historian Alfred W. Crosby in his 1972 book The Columbian Exchange.
