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Jan 1, 1450
Prince Henry the Navigator
Henry seted up the first European school for navigators in Sagres, Portugal. Prince Henry was fascinated by all information concerning sailing, navigation, and astronomy. Henry built ships to explor the south along Africa's west cost. And found gold dust, invory, and people whom the enslaved. -
Jan 1, 1487
Bartolomeu Dais
Bartolomue Dais readied ships for a long, hard voyage. Icluded for the first time was a supply ship with enough water and food for the extended trip. -
Aug 1, 1492
Christopher Columbus
Columbus set sail form Spain in August, 1492, with three small ships " the Nina, the Pinta, and the Sant Maria" and a crew of about 90 sailors. -
May 17, 1493
Ponce de Leon
was a Spanish explorer and soldier who was the first European to set foot in Florida.Ponce de Leon was a soldier fighting Muslims in southern Spain in the early 1490's. -
Jan 1, 1496
Treaty of Tordesillas
The Treaty of Tordesillas was agreed upon by the Spanish and the Portuguese to clear up confusion on newly claimed land in the New World. The early 1400s brought about great advances in European exploration. In order make trade more efficient, Portugal attempted to find a direct water route to the India and China. By using a direct water route, Arab merchants, who owned land trade routes, were not able to make a profit off of the European trade merchants. After Columbus discovered the New World -
Jan 1, 1497
Vasco Nunez de Balboa
Balboa designed ships. And in fact, accomplained da Gama as far as Cape Verde.Da Gama had orders fromthe king to " proclaim the Christian faith" and to " wrest kingdoms and new states from the hands of the barbarians. he was at sea for four months. and many of his crew men were sick. and for the first time they saw coconut, which the descibed as " fruit as large as a melon" -
Jun 24, 1497
John Cabot
Cabot sailed to Canada in 1497, commanding the small ship called "Matthew." Cabot landed near Labrador, Newfoundland, or Cape Breton Island (the exact spot is uncertain) on June 24, 1497.Cabot undertook a second, larger expedition in 1498. On this trip, Cabot may have reached America, but that is uncertain. Cabot's expeditions were the first of Britain's claims to Canada. -
Jul 8, 1497
Vasco Da Gama
Vasco Da Gama was born to a noble family in Sines, Portugal. His father Estavao was also an explorer. Vasco da Gama sailed from Lisbon, Portugal, on July 8, 1497, heading to the East. At the time, many people thought that da Gama's trip would be impossible because it was believed that the Indian Ocean was not connected to any other seas. -
Mar 9, 1500
Pedro Cabral
was a Portuguese nobleman, explorer, and navigator who was the first European to see Brazil. Cabral's 13 ships left on March 9, 1500, following the route of Vasco da Gama. Cabral returned to Portugal on June 23, 1501, with only four of the original 13 ships. -
Jan 1, 1504
Hernan Cortez
Hernan Cortes boarded a ship commanded by Alonso Quintero, departing for the west. -
Jan 1, 1507
Amereigo Vespucci
Amerigo Vespucci was an Italian explorer who was the first person to realize that the Americas were separate from the continent of Asia. America was named for him, -
Jan 1, 1522
Fancisco Pizzaro
Francisco Pizarro was a Spanish conquistador who traveled through much of the Pacific coast of America along Peru. He "discovered" the Incan empire and conquered it brutally and quickly, stealing immense hoards of gold, silver, and other treasures. -
Sep 6, 1522
Ferdinand Magellan
was a Portuguese explorer who led the first expedition that sailed around the Earth (1519-1522). Magellan also named the Pacific Ocean (means it is a calm, peaceful ocean). His parents, Pedro Ruy de Magalhaes and Alda de Mezquita, were noble. The voyage began September 8, 1519, and lasted until September 6, 1522. -
Jan 1, 1524
Giovanni Verrazano
He first sailed south, then returned and sailed north, to New York, anchoring the narrows that are now name for him. He sailed up to Maine and then on to New Foundland, Canada, and back to Europe (landing in Dieppe, France on July 8). Verrazzano thought that North America was a thin isthmus separating the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Verrazzano was killed and eaten by Carib Indians in 1528. The Verrazzano Narrows Bridge, a suspension bridge that spans New York Harbor, connecting Brooklyn and Sta -
Jan 1, 1527
Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca
Spanish explorer who sailed to North America from Spain. He traveled from Florida to Texas on a raft, then walked from Texas to Mexico City. He also explored the Paraguay River in South America. De Vaca and his fellow travelers were the first Europeans to see the bison, or American buffalo. -
Jan 1, 1541
Jacaques Cartier
Cartier sailed inland, going 1,000 miles up the St. Lawrence River. He also tried to start a settlement in Quebec but it was abandoned after a terribly cold winter. Cartier named Canada; "Kanata" means village or settlement in the Huron-Iroquois language. Cartier was given directions by Huron-Iroquois Indians for the route to "kanata," a village near what is now Quebec, but Cartier later named the entire region Canada. -
Jan 1, 1542
Juan rodriguez Cabrillo
he sailed from Acapulco to southern California, claiming California for King Charles I of Spain. Cabrillo named San Diego Bay and Santa Barbara. He died on San Miguel Island (in the Santa Barbara Channel) after a fight with Indians, from complications resulting from a broken leg. -
Jan 1, 1575
Sir Francis Drake
Sir Francis Drake was a British explorer, slave-trader, privateer (a pirate working for a government) in the service of England, mayor of Plymouth, England, and naval officer (he was an Admiral). Drake led the second expedition to sail around the world in a voyage lasting from 1577 to 1580 (Magellan led the first voyage around the world). -
John Davis
Started on his first north-western expedition. On this he began by encountering the ice-bound east shore of Greenland, which he followed south to Cape Farewell; then he turned north once more and coasted the west Greenland littoral some way, until, finding the sea free from ice, he shaped a course for China going north-west. In 66° N, however, he encountered Baffin Island, and though he pushed some way up Cumberland Sound, and professed to recognize in this the hoped for strait. -
Henry Hudson
Little is known about Hudson's early life. Hudson was hired by the Muscovy Company, to find a waterway from Europe to Asia. Hudson made two trips, but failed to find a route to China. He sailed to Spitzbergen (an island north of Scandinavia in the Arctic Ocean) and discovered Jan Mayen Island (a tiny island off eastern Greenland). He sailed to Novaya Zemlya (an island north of Russia in the Arctic Ocean).
