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Jan 1, 1450
Prince Henry The Navagator
Henry set up the first European school for navigators in Sagres, Portugal. Prince Henry was fascinated by all information concerning sailing, navigation, and astronomy. Herny worked with others to design and build better ships. Henry sent parties of explorers south along Africas west coast. The descovered the Gold Coast, Cape Verde, Azores, Madeira, and Canary Islands. They found gold dust, ivory, and they enslaved people. -
May 17, 1487
Bartolomeu Dias
He readied ships for a long, hard voyage. But for the first time, they were acompanied by a supply ship which held enough food and water for extended trips. He made stops many times on Africas west coast before he was blown south by winds. Dias then reached Africa's East coast. When Dias returned he named the southern tip of Africa the Cape of Storms. Later the King of Portugal renamed the tip Cape of Good Hope. -
Aug 17, 1492
Christopher Columbus
Son of a weaver, was a skilled navigator fron Genoa, Italy. Columbus believed the world was round not flat. He believed that he could reach Asia by sailing west. In 1492 Queen Isabella of spain agreed to support his plan, the enterprise on the Indies. Set sail in August, 1492, with three ships, the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria with about 90 sailors. He landed on the Bahamas after many days. He thought he was in the Indies. He went back to Spain in 1493 with gold, parrots, and cotton. -
May 17, 1494
Tready of Tordesillas
Spanish monarchs were scared that Portugal will try to take from Spain the riches Columbus had discovered. So they had the Pope help. The Pope then drew an imaginary line from the North pole to the South pole known as a papal line of demarcation. Spain got the non-Christian lands to the west and portugal got the non-Christian lands to the east. The Pourtuguese didnt like it so they protested and the Tready of Tordesillas was drawn up. The Tready moved the line 500 to 800 kilometers west. -
May 18, 1497
Amerigo Vespucci
He was from Spain and Portugal. He explored Atlantic cooast of South America. He was one of the first to believe he had reached a new world. -
May 18, 1497
John Cabot
He explored the coasts of Newfoundland and Nova Scotia. He established claims for England in the Americas -
Jul 17, 1497
Vasco de Gama
Led a convoy of ships down the Tagus River from Lisbon Portugal. De Gama had orders from the king to proclaim the Christian faith and to wrest kingdoms and new states from the hands of the Barbarians. Their first stop was at a Muslim trading center called Mozambique. The next stop was at Malindi or modern day Kenya. There they learned new things such as how to make rope. Then they landed in Calicut but had to leave because he alarmed the Arab and Persians. The trip back to Lisbon took 11 months. -
May 18, 1500
Pedro Cabral
He was from Portugal. He Discovered Brazil. Then he sailed east to India. -
May 17, 1513
Ponce de Leon
He sailed north from the islands of Puerto Rico to explore Florida. -
May 17, 1513
Vasco Nunez de Balboa
Vasco Neunez de Balboa crossed the isthmus of Panama and became the first European to see the the Great South Sea. -
May 17, 1517
Ferdinand Magellan
He was a Portuguese Explorer. He offered to find Spain a new route to the Indies. In 1519, he set sail from Spain. He commanded a fleet of five ships. In October of the next year he sailed through a storm straight at the tip of South America. Then he sailed into the Great South Sea which he later renamed the Pacific Ocean from the spanish word pacifico. He was involved in a war in the Philippiene Islands and died. -
May 17, 1520
Hernan Cortez
He invaded Mexico. He had the help of guns and small pox to destroy the Native American empire ruled by the Aztec king Montezuma. He took large amounts of gold from the native Americans to send back to spain -
May 18, 1522
Giovanni Verrazano
He was an Italian explorer of North America. He was know for many voyages through the Atlantic Ocean -
May 19, 1528
Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca
Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca was an explorer from Spain. He explored Florida and the Gulf region from Texas to Mexico. -
May 18, 1532
Francisco Pizarro
Francisco invaded Peru. Within five years he conquered the Inca Empire. He took great treasure of gold and silver from the Native Americas. Then his crew headed for the coast where they build Lima, The City of Kings. -
May 18, 1533
Jacques Cartier
He was a french navigator. He sailed up the St. Lawrence River as far as present-day Montreal. It have the French a claim to eastern Canada. -
May 19, 1542
Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo
Juan Rodriguez Cabrilllo was an explorer from Spain. He explored the Pacific coast to Drake's Bay near San Francisco. -
May 18, 1577
Sir Fancis Drake
Sir Francis Drake was from Enland. He was the first englisman to sail around the world. He was known for his oversea voyages and his capture of the Spanish Merchants. -
John Davis
John Davis was an English explorer. He explored the west coast of Greenland in search of the northwest passage to Asia. -
Henry Hudson
He was a English navigator. He explored the Hudson River and sailed to what is today Albany, New York. Later, in 1610, he went out on another voyage and got lost at sea because of a storm and was never seen again.
