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1488
Bartolomeu Dias rounded Africa’s Cape of Good Hope
Bartholomeu Dias rounded the Southern tip of Africa. This opened up a trade route for those who needed to get to a certain point in Africa or past. This is important as faster trade routes mean more profit. More profit means faster colonization for the Americas. -
Aug 3, 1492
Columbus sails for the new world.
Columbus sailed his three ships, the Nina, the Santa Mara, and the Pinta out of the Spanish Port. His goal was to reach Asia where great riches lied. This event served great purpose for trade routs leading to Asia, as their trade partner was Spain. This allowed great trade to happen between two countries more efficiently that before. -
Oct 12, 1492
Cristopher Columbus reached America
It is this day Columbus reached America... sort of. See, he hit Watling Island in the Bahamas, not America, but America did follow shortly afterwards. This came as a bit of a shock to Columbus. See, he didn't go to discover America, but to discover a trade route, and instead he made an important discovery that reflects in history. -
Mar 15, 1493
Columbus returns to Spain from his first voiyage
Columbus returned from his voyage to the "new world." Upon his return, he began documenting his findings to King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella. He had discovered a landmass soon to be known as "the Americas." This plays a vital role in our lives each and every day for more than obvious reasons. -
Jun 7, 1494
Treaty of Tordesillas
This was an agreement maid towards Spain and Portugal. The goal was to stop conflicts from happening over Christopher Columbus's newly discovered land. This settled any conflicts that may have been happening over Columbus's newly discovered land. This was necessary, as conflict may have severely hurt our claiming of American soil. -
1497
Vasco da Gama explored Africa until he reached India
It was around this time that Vasco da Gama explored through Africa to reach India. He did this so that he can open a trade route from Europe to the East. His efforts managed to score a new trade route that would of course be used in the future. And to be poetic, two decades later, Vasco returned to India, where he then passed away. -
May 30, 1498
Columbus' third voyage
For the third time, Columbus set sail to the new world. This time, his objective was to deliver supplies to colonists. This is important as Colonists needed the supplies. The reason why the supplies were so needed was that nobody knew exactly where to find food, as it was new land. Oh, also it's an important fact that Columbus could not procure cattle and thus anyone looking forward to steaks was heavily disappointed. -
May 14, 1501
John Cabot and Amerigo Vespucci explore the Americas
John Cabot and Amerigo Vespucci set sail for the new world. The explorers are tasked to investigate the soon-to-be land of the free. Exploration for the Americas began here. Without their exploration, we likely would have taken much more time to colonize. -
May 14, 1501
Amerigo Vespucci traveled along the east coast of South America
Amerigo Vespucci traveled to the northern part of South America and into the Amazon River. He stated giving places names such as the "Gulf of Gangs" thinking he was actually in Asia. Despite the mixup, the names stick to this day. Amerigo Vespucci even played a main part in naming America itself, as "America" is just a feminine play on his first name, "Amerigo." -
May 11, 1502
Columbus's fourth voiyage
This was Columbus's fourth voyage to the new world. Columbus's purpose for going was so that he could explore the coast of Central America, of which he also wrote down some tribal related notes. This served to be Columbus's last world voyage into the new world. Ultimately the trip was rushed, and he never went to the new world again due to Queen Isabel's passing, and his own death in 1506 -
1513
Vasco Nunez de Balboa reached the South Sea
It was Vasco Nunez de Balboa that charted into the South sea, discovering new land for King of Spain, Ferdinand. Ultimately though, he was just in it for the gold. While on the south sea, he established a settlement in South America, and why did he do this you may ask? Well, once more he was in it for the gold, as if he established a settlement, he could have a place to fall back on to for breaks. -
1519
Magellan sails into the Pacific Ocean
Magellan sailed the Pacific Ocean for a way to get to the spice islands. He discovered a route, now known as the "Straight of Magellan" and became the first European to cross the Pacific Ocean. This served importance as he discovered a trade route for Europe and safely crossed the Pacific Ocean. This played a role in the interest of traveling across the Pacific Ocean to discover land and more trade routes. -
1519
Hernand Cortes landed on the shores of Mexico.
Cortes planned to planned to go to Mexico, but was denied. Cortes went anyway with 11 ships and over 500 people just to get to the coast of Mexico. This is important because Cortes ruled over Mexico for quite a while, seeking fame for his accomplishment. Eventually, he died in 1547, leaving behind the land he fought for. -
Apr 1, 1519
Beginning of the Spanish Conquest
On this day, a man named Hernan Cortes started to take over the Aztec Empire. From the current world, we can determine their efforts were not wasted. Ultimately, their efforts succeeded, and they became the new rulers of the Mexican territory. -
1532
Pizarro discovered Peru
Pizarro not only discovered Peru, but proceeded to conquer it. Three years later, he founded the new capitol of Peru, Lima. Peru was then colonized and used as another "base of operation." Peru now stands today, as a monument to the olden times of which it came. -
Roanoke is founded
A man named Sir Walter Raleigh founds Roanoke, the first English settlement of the new world. This is one of the first steps we took to colonizing the Americas. This is important as we needed to start Colonizing America quickly before another country may have come in and taken the land. Ultimately, we ended up succeeding with colonization. -
The first fleet of Dutch Ships arrived in India
A fleet of eight ships, lead under Jacob van Neck arrived in India. Their goal was to gather resources previously only gotten through trading, in turn earning a 400 percent profit. This allowed more profit to be made, which is always a good thing. This allowed funding for the Dutch to have future projects. -
Jamestown in Virginia is established by the English
It was around this time the Virginia Company of England decided to explore Virgina in honor of Queen Elizabeth. They established Jamestown as a first settlement and a place to start their exploration. This event is important because Virginia needed to be colonized at the time, as it wasn't under rule yet. Now, the town and state exists to this very day. -
The first boatload of slaves arrives in the Americas
Simply put, freshly imported slaves arrived in America from Africa. This marked a new day in our time, not for our ability to fight for freedom but or our ability to really be a dingus, and that will be remembered for decades to come. This plays an important role in American history as it reminds us of a time we went against our modo "land of the free." It is important not for the good, but for the bad, and serves as a reminder of things to never do. -
Plymouth was founded
Plymouth was the first site that people set up their living quarters in New England. About 100 Puritan Separatist Pilgrims set up their living quarters. This is important as it gave the Pilgrims a place to reside while on the new American soil. It still stands today, and can of course be lived in just like the pilgrims. -
English discover Massachusetts Bay
Two men named John Winthdrop and Tomas Dudley settled in Massachusetts Bay, making one of the first English colonizations. Expansion outward began much later. This is important as it was one of the first starts of people spreading across the Americas. This works in our benefit as the faster we got across America, the faster we could start ruling the land. -
La Salle Explores the lower Mississippi River
La Salle traversed to the Gulf of Mexico to establish a French colony on the mouth of the Mississippi River. They returned through the Mississippi River, which is kind of poetic. This is important as it let the French into America. It may sound bad at first, but they are our comrades, or at least in the future they would be. We got to good terms at the start, really. -
Dutch explorers explore Austria
It was this time that Dutch reached Austria. Exploration began after realization that Austria was a good place for trade. This is important as Austria was barely, if not known of at all. I mean, an entire new country, including land and products was accessed for trade that day.
