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Jan 1, 1400
Bartolomeu Dias
The desire for new trade routes led to a great age of exporation in the 1400s. Information from such early explorers as Morco Polo was very helpfl. Portuguese explorers were among the first to travel beyond the Mediterranean Sea. -
May 19, 1457
Prince Henry the Navigator
Henry was the third child of King John I of Portugal, the founder of the Aviz dynasty, and of Philippa of Lancaster, John of Gaunt's daughter. -
Jan 1, 1492
Christopher Columbus
Christopher Columbus, the son of a weaver, was a skilled navigator from Genoa, Italy.He ried for eight years to convince the rulers from different nations to finance an expedition. in 1492, Queen Isalbella of Spain agreed to support his plan, the enterprise of the Indies. -
May 18, 1494
Treaty of Tordesillas
Was drawn up. It moved the line about 500 milesm or 800 kilometers, farther west. Because of this, Portugal was able to claim Brazil. -
Jan 1, 1497
Vasco da Gama
He led a convoy, or group, of four ships down the Tagus ruver from Lisbon,Portugal. The accompanied da Gama as far as Cape Verde. Da Gama had orders from the king to "proclaim the Christain faith" and too "wrest kingdoms and new states from the hands of the barbarians. -
Jan 1, 1497
Amerigo Vespucci
Explored Atlantic coast of south America One of the first to believe he had reached a new world. Did this between 1497-1504 -
Jan 1, 1497
John Cabot
Set sail with a handful of men. He explored the coasts of Newfoundland and Nova Scotia and established claims for England in the Americas. -
May 17, 1500
Perdo Cabral
Discovered Brazil and sailed East to India, 1500-1501.
His country is Portugal. -
Jan 1, 1513
Vasco Nunez de Balboa
Crossed the isthmus of Panama and became the first European too see the Great South Sea. Between 1519 and 1521, Hernando Cortes invaded Mexico. -
May 17, 1513
Ponce de Leon
sailed north from the island of Puerto Rico to explore Florida. -
Jan 1, 1517
Ferdinand Magellan
Portugal controlled the eastern route to the Indies. As a result, Portugal was growing rich When a Portuguese explorer named Ferdinand Magellan offered to find Spain a western route to the Indies, the kind accepte the offer. -
Jan 1, 1523
Giovanni Verrazano
French hired Giovanni, another Italian navigator, to find a northwest passage. He sailed along the Atlantic coast from North Carolina to New York. -
Jan 1, 1523
Jacques Cartier
Hes a French navigator, sailed up the St. Lawrence River as far as present-day Montreal. This gave the French a claim to eastern Canada. -
Jan 1, 1528
Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca
Explored Flordia and the Gulf region from Texas to Mexico, !528-36 -
May 17, 1532
Hernan Cortez
took Great treasures of gold and silver from the Native Americans. -
May 17, 1532
Francisco Pizzaro
Invaded Peru. Within five years, he conquered the Inca Empire. -
May 18, 1553
Juan Rodrigue Cabrillo
Explored Pacific coast to Drake's Bay near San Francisco. -
Jan 1, 1577
Sir Francis Drake
First Englishman to sail around the world, 1577-80 -
John Davis
Explored west coast of greenland in serch of northwest passage to Asia, 1585. -
Henry Hudson
English navigator . He explored the Hudson River and sailed to what is today Albany, New York .
