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May 16, 1394
Prince Henry the Navigator
Henry was born in Portugal and was son of the king of Portugal. He set up the first European school for navigators in Sagres. He created the caravel which was combined with a heavy, rigged, European ship with the light, slim Arab one to produce a ship that was faster and easier to handle. He believed that the west coast of africa should be explored more and that a quicker route to the far east should be found. Since there was gold in africa, they set up trading forts and portugal became wealthy. -
May 17, 1450
Bartolomeu Dias of Portugal
in 1487, Bartolomeu Dias readied ships for a long hard voyage. Dias touched at several points on West Africa's coast before strong winds blew him southward. On the return home, he named the southern tip of South Africa the Cape of Storms. The king of portugal later renamed it the Cape of Good Hope because the Portugese now knew they could reach the Far East by sailing around Africa. He died May 29 1500. -
May 18, 1450
John Cabot
John Cabot was hired by the English King to search for a north route to the far east.He explored the coasts of new foundland and nova scotia. He established claims for the english in the Americas. he was born in 1450 and died in 1499. -
May 20, 1451
Christopher Columbus
He was born in Genoa, Italy, grew up being the son of a weaver and a became a skilled navigator. Like many people, Columbus believed the world was round not flat. He tried eight years to convince rulers from different nations to finance an expedition. Isabella of Spain finally supported his plan, the enterprise of the Indies. He sailed in 1492 and on the second day of sailing he spotted land. in 1493, he headed back to spain with gold, parrots, cotton , other plants and animals, and Natives -
May 18, 1460
Ponce de Leon
Ponce de Leon was a spanish conquistadore. At the time the Conquistadores had started to take much land in the new world. His job was to go and explore florida. he was born in 1460 in the town of san tervas, spain. he died of wounds in cuba in 1521. -
May 17, 1467
Pedro Cabral
In 1500, the portuguese explorer Pedro cabral claimed Brazil for portugal. No precious metals were found so portugal was very interested.The brazilwood, or a red wood used to make dyes was now catching the attention of portugal. They realized they could make a lot of money of this wood.Pedro cabral died in 1520. -
May 17, 1469
Vasco da Gama
In the summer of 1497, he lead a convoy of four ships "to proclaim christian faith and wrest kingdoms and new states from the hands of the Barbarians." The convoy was headed to Calicut on the eastern coast of India. They gathered as many spices on their ships as they could. Then sailed back to Lisbon, Portugal. Their voyage opened the way for later explorations and a era for increased trade. he was born in Sines, Portugal and died in 1524 in Cochin, India -
May 18, 1471
Francisco Pizarro
Francisco Pizarro was a conquistadore that invaded Peru. Like cortes he captured much gold and silver from conquering the native american empire, the inca,. He then built the city of Lima the "city of Kings". he was born in 1471 and died in 1541 due to being assasinated. -
May 18, 1475
Vasco Nunez de Balboa
He was the first european to see the Great South Sea. He also crossed the isthmus of Panama, on that same year, Ponce de Leon sailed north from Puerto Rico to explore Florida. -
May 17, 1480
Ferdinand Magellan
Ferdinand offered to find the spanish king a western route to the indies. so in 1519 he set sail from spain. he went around the southern most tip of south america and into the pacific. he got involved in a local war in the phillipines and died. one ship remaind and sailed into the indian ocean all the way back to sevill, spain. the group that survived had accomplished the impossible, they circumnavigated the world. They also proved that columbus didnt land in asia but in the americas. -
May 18, 1485
Hernan cortes
Hernan cortes was himself a conquistadore for spain. while other conquistadores were exploring parts of the new world, he invaded mexico. With the help of a new weapon, guns, he took mexico and defeated the Aztec. then he sent the vast amount of gold they captured and sent it back to spain. he was born in medellin, spain in 1485. he died on december 2nd in 1547 in seville, spain. -
May 18, 1485
Giovanni Verrazano
In 1523, the French hired Giovanni Verrazano, another Italian navigator, to find a northwest passage.He sailed along the Atlantic Coast from North Carolina to New York. 11 years later, Jacques Cartier sailed up the St. Lawrence River. -
May 18, 1490
Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca
His country of origin was Spain. He explored Florida and Gulf region from Texas to Mexico, the year was 1528-1536 -
May 18, 1491
Jacques Cartier
Jacques Cartier was looking for the north passage to the far east too. He sailed up the st.lawrence river and established claims in eastern canada for the french. He was born in 1491 and died in 1557. -
May 18, 1494
The Treaty of Tordesillas
In 1493, the Pope drew a papal line of demarcation, or imaginary line from the North Pole to the South Pole, some 300 miles.The Portugese, however did not like the way the land was divided. They protested and called for a meeting. In 1494, the Treaty of Tordesillas was drawn up, it moved the line 500 miles farther west. Because of this, Portugal was able to claim Brazil. -
May 18, 1497
Amerigo Vespucci
He explored the Atlantic Coast of South America, 1497-1504; one of the first to believe he had reached a new world. His country of origin was SPain and Portugal -
May 18, 1499
Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo
His country of origin was Spain. He explored the Pacific Coast to Drake's bay near San Francisco, in the year 1542. -
May 18, 1541
Sir Francis Drake
He was the FIRST englishman to sail around the world. His trip was form 1577 to 1580. -
May 18, 1550
John Davis
John Davis was an explorer for the english. He explored the west coast of Greenland. He was looking for the north passage to the far east. He was born in around 1550 and died in 1605 after being murdered -
May 18, 1570
Henry Hudson
Henry Hudson also was looking for the north passage to the far east. He was sent by the dutch to explore. He found the Hudson bay and established a claim for the dutch in what is today Albany, new york. He was born in 1570 and died in 1611 when he got lost in a storm.
