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Portuguese explorer, Bartolomeu Dias, was the first European to travel around the southern tip of Africa, which opened the sea route from Europe to Asia.
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Prince Henry the Navigator launched the first wave of expeditions to find new trade routes. These expeditions ultimately reached as far as the Atlantic Ocean and western Africa.
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Christopher Columbus, an Italian explorer, made a journey hoping to find a new trade route to India, but instead found the New World (North America).
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This treaty divided the New World, or the Americas, between Spain and Portugual. This settled the conflicts over territory that was newly explored by Christopher Columbus.
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The first series of English missions exploring North America was led by John Cabot, an Italian navigator and explorer. The Spanish did not have any interest with North America, since it did not have many resources as Central America did. So the English began to explore the northern Americas hoping to find an oceanic Northwest Passage for trade with Asia.
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Portuguese explorer, Vasco da Gama, was the first European to go around southern Africa to reach India by seas. This opened up direct trade with Asia.
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Portuguese sea captain, Pedro Cabral, lands in South America, and finds an unclaimed territory that would later be named Brazil.
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Spanish conquistador, Hernán Cortés, forcefully overthrew the last great native empire in Mesoamerica.
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A group of Spanish conquistadors, led by Francisco Pizarro, conquered the largest Pre-Columbian American empire. The spread of new diseases that came from Europe, and the civil unrest from the two ruling brothers at the time, contributed to the fall of this empire.
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French sailor, Jacques Cartier was the first European to navigate the St. Lawrence river. His discoveries and expeditions would later contribute to French claims on North America.
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English naval commander, Francis Drake, fully navigates the whole globe, claims territory in the New World that would eventually become California, and he also contributed to the defeat of the Spanish Armada.
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This was an English company founded for the purpose of exploitation of trade with eastern Asia and India.
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This main purpose of this company was to explore, colonize, and trade. It was a very successful, and large company. At its peak, it had several headquarters established in many countries, control over the spicy trade, and governmental powers, which included the ability to colonize, and to persecute.
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Dutch navigator, and colonial governor, Willem Janszoon, traveled to the Pennefather River on the western side of Cape York in Queensland. This was the first European contact in Australia.
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The first established English colony was the Colony of Virginia. Which notably includes the Jamestown, and Plymouth colonies.
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French explorer, Samuel de Champlain founded Quebec, which would be France’s first permanent settlement in the New World.
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Led by Henry Hudson, Half Moon lands in the Hudson River, which provided the basis of Dutch Colonization in the New World.
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Henry Hudson was an English explorer that helped expand the map of previous explorations made by Giovanni da Verrazano. He was sent by the Dutch East India Company. Along with four other voyages, he impacted the knowledge of known areas in the New World, and the seas.
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The English seizes the Dutch colony of New Netherland, and renamed it New York. The Dutch West India Company later went bankrupt.
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British cabinetmaker and inventor, John Harrison, invents a clock that would help sailors navigate the seas. It would be able to function on rolling boats, unlike the pendulum clock.
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The HMS Endeavour leaves Portsmouth, England to start a series of expeditions led by Captain James Cook. Their expeditions would span over 10 years, and would cover the whole globe three times. They mapped several countries including Australia, New Zealand, and the Hawaiian Islands.
