-
The Portuguese invented a new ship, called the Caravel, which was seen an as improved and better model from previous ship models. The Caravel used used lateen sails, which sail against the wind. It significantly lowered the cost of transport, and made long voyages possible. This assisted European explorers.
-
Bartholomeu Dias reached the southern tip of Africa, which was later named the Cape of Good Hope, and returned shortly after. This was years after the Portuguese fleets navigated southward along the western coast of Africa, discovering a new source of gold. -
Christopher Columbus reached the Americas, while believing that he had reached Asia. During his four voyages, Columbus reached all of the major Caribbean islands in Central America, along with Honduras. He called all of these "The Indies". -
Vasco de Gama went around Africa to the coast of India. In May 1488, he arrived off the port of Calicut, and made a huge profit from all the spices that he obtained while in India. This resulted in the fleets returning to India to take control of the spice trade from the Muslims. A treaty was later signed with the local Moluccan ruler which established Portuguese control of the spice trade. -
Portuguese sea captain Pedro Cabral landed in South America in 1500. He was the first human in history to ever be in 4 continents, uniting all of them in his voyage, where he also conducted the first exploration of the northeast coast of South America. He claimed the region for Portugal, which was later named Brazil
-
Hernán Cortés led his Spanish force to Veracruz, on the Gulf of Mexico. He and his troops arrived to Tenochtitlán. Throughout his way, he made alliances with several tribes who opposed the Aztecs. -
Spanish explorer Ferdinand Magellan voyaged from Spain in search of a sea passage through the Americas in September of 1519. In October 1520, He passed through a waterway along the tip of South America, which was later named the Strait of Magellan. Magellan is regarded as the first person to sail completely around the globe. Unfortunately, when his fleet reached the Philippines, the indigenous people there killed Magellan.
-
In 1520, one year after Hernán Cortés and his troops arrived, tensions rose among the Aztecs and Spaniards. Montezuma had been taken hostage. Eventually, the Aztecs surrendered.
-
In 1531, Francisco Pizarro arrived Pacific coast of South America. Unfortunately, they brought along disease, which eventually killed the Inca Emperor. Both of his sons wanted to claim the throne, and soon a civil war started. This led to Pizarro being able to capture Atahuallpa, and eventually Atahuallpa got executed. By 1535, Pizarro had already established a new capital.
