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Luigi Da Cadamosto discovers Cape Verde Islands for Portugal. This was important as the islands later became a major station in the Transatlantic slave trade.
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Bartholomeu Diaz was the first European to circle the southern tip of Africa. This was significant as it provided a new ocean route around the continent, leading to future explorations into cheaper trade routes.
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Christopher Columbus makes his first voyage to the Americas, funded by Queen Isabella of Spain. This trip was significant because he was the first explorer to find the New World, even though he believed it to be India.
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This treaty divded the world between Portugal and Spain, giving Portugal the eastern part including Africa, while Spain got the western part, which consisted of all of the New World, except for Brazil. This treaty was important as it decreased most of the strife between the two countries.
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John Cabot discovers Newfoundland and Nova Scotia, and claims it for England. This led to later British claims of North America.
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Vasco De Gama reaches India, after successfully taking an ocean route around the southern tip of Africa. This was very important because it provide a faster and much cheaper trade route than the land route through Italy and the rest of Europe and Asia.
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Columbus discovers Trinidad on his third voyage. This is important due to the fact that more land was claimed for Spain.
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Pedro Cabral claims Brazil for Portugal. This was important as Portugal increased it's land claims in South America.
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Amerigo claims that the piece of land Columbus found was a New World, and wasn't part of Asia. He was important because the continent was later named America, after him.
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Ferdinand Magellan sails around South America. This is important because he was the first man to accomplish this feat at the time, expanding ocean routes to different regions. After two years, he managed to reach Philippines, though he was killed there. But, his crew continued on and managed to reach their starting point, making it the first voyage to circumnavigate the world.
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Cortes conquers the Aztec empire. This was important because his arrival eventually led to the fall of one of the greatest empires in the Americas.
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Giovannai de Verrazano discovers New York harbor. He was the first man to find this.
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Babur wins the 1st Battle of Panipat. He became the first emperor of the empire. This was a significant event it help lay the foundation of the Mughal empire.
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Pizarro conquers the Incan empire. This was important because his arrival eventually led to the fall of the empire, because after acquiring the wealth he needed for Spain, he executed Atualhulpa.
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Jacques Cartier founds Montreal, which was important as it was one of the first French colonies.
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Akbar takes over the Mughal empire and expands it to a great extent. During his reign, India prospered the most and he ruled with tolerance and diplomacy.
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Captain John Smith founds the first English colony in North America, called Jamestown. It later became the first permant settlement by the British.
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Samuel De Champlain founded Quebec. This was important as it became the base of France's colonial empire in North America, known as New France.
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Henry Hudson explored three water ways, that were later named after him, called the Hudson River, the Hudson Bay and the Hudson Strait. This was important because the Dutch later claimed the region along these waterways, establishing trade posts along the coast, and trading with the Iroquois.
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The Pilgrims founds Plymouth, the second English colony in North America. It was a place that provided freedom for religious liberty seekers.
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The Dutch government granted the Dutch merchants' company, called the Dutch West India Company, the permission to colonize the region and expand the fur trade. The Dutch holdings in North America were then called New Netherland, and later this colony opened up to all sorts of people, and more dutch as well as Germans, French, Scandinavians and other Europeans moved in, promoting cultural diversity at the time.
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De La Salle claims the entire river valley for France, and names it Louisiana in honor of the French King, Louis XIV. This expanded the French empire considerably, and after a couple of years, New France covered much of modern-day midwestern United States and eastern Canada.
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British rule begins in India, starting a new era and way of life for Indians. This led to later conflicts and the uprising involving Mahatma Gandhi.
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British educational institutes as well as the British educational system starts in India, transforming the academic curriculum and leaving a strong system that still stands today in modern-day India.
