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Jan 1, 1450
Prince Henry the Navigator
Prince Henry was fascinated in anything to do with sailing, navigation, or astronomy. He also helped design and build new ships, though he never had sailed on a single ocean. Henry sent Portugese sailors to Africa and they found gold dust, ivory, and people to enslave. He then set up trading forts and it brought more strength and wealth to Portugal. -
Jan 1, 1473
Bartolomeu Dias
Dias took over Prince Henry's exploration and crossed the equator. He then prepared ships for a long, hard voyage. He made sure they had enough supplies to make it and be able to make it through the storm. The king then renamed the Cape of Storms to the Cape of Good Hope. -
Aug 1, 1492
Christopher Columbus
Christopher believed that the earth was round so he tried to prove it by sailing to Asia going west. Columbus set sail in 1492 and after awhile in the trip his crew grew nervous and wanted to turn back. Columbus didn't listen and finally hit land. Then the Santa Maria wrecked and his crew built a fort, making the first European settlement in America. All together Christopher took 4 voyages to Asia and he was convinced that he had found the pathway to Asia. -
Jan 1, 1493
Treaty of Tordesillas
The Treaty of Tordesillas was an imaginary line drawn by the pope form the North Pole to the South Pole. It was 300 miles west of Azore Islands. The reason why the treaty was made is Portugal didn't want Spain to take riches of Columbus's discovery. -
Jan 1, 1497
Amerigo Vespucci
Vespucci was one of the early explorers of the New World. Both North and South America were named after him. In 1497 he explored South and Central America. He also came up with the idea that these places weren't part of Asia. -
Jun 1, 1497
Vasco da Gama
Vasco da Gama led a convoy down the Tagus river from Lisbon, Portugal. He landed on the island of Mozambique and found new food to eat, such as the coconut. The muslims figured out that da Gama and his convoy were Christians and forced them to leave. Finally, they stopped at Malindi and took on supplies and learned to make rope from coconut fiber. -
Jun 22, 1497
John Cabot
John took a voyage to Canada on the small boat, Mathew. He went around the Canadian coastline naming the islands and capes. He looked for a pathway to Asia, but was unsuccessful. Cabot's expeditions were the first claims to Canada by Britain. -
Mar 9, 1500
Pedro Cabral
13 ships left to India on March 9, 1500 led by Pedr Cabral. He then found Brazil and claimed it Portugal's. This island is now known as "The Island of the Tue Tross". They then had many ship battles to defend there land. -
Jan 1, 1513
Ponce De Leon
Leon sailed north from Peurto Rico to explore Florida. He created the oldest European settlement in Peurto Rico. Ponce also sailed with Christopher Columbus in his second trip to America. -
Sep 13, 1513
Vasco Nunez de Balboa
Vasco became the first European to see the Great South Sea. He also got to see the Pacific Ocean over a Mountain range. When he reached the Pacific Ocean he found gold and sent it back to the king of Spain. -
Jan 1, 1519
Hernando Cortez
Hernando Cortez invaded many of Mexico's towns. He used guns and the spread of small pox to destroy the Native American empire. He then took lots of its gold to send back to Spain. -
Jan 1, 1519
Ferdinand Magellan
Magellan was a Portugese explorer. He was the leader of the expedition around the world. Magellan also was the person who named the Pacific Ocean. Magellan then sailed to the Phillipines and was involved in a local war. During that war Ferdinand Magellan was killed. -
Jul 8, 1524
Giovanni Varrazano
Varrazano was the first European explorer to name the new areas in North America after people and places of the Old World. He also discovered the New York Harbor, Block Island, and Narragansett Bay. Giovanni took his final expedition in 1528. He explored Florida and the Bahamas. He stayed at one of the islands to meet one of the native groups. Instead of being friendly traders they were cannibals and killed him and ate him immediately. -
Jan 1, 1528
Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca
Alvar was a Spanish explorer. His explorations were of Florida and the Gulf region. His area explored went from Texas to Mexico. During his expeditions he was one of only fifteen men who survived. -
Jan 1, 1532
Francisco Pizzaro
Francisco found Incan empire and conqured it brutally and quickly. He took all the gold, silver, and other valauable treasures they had. During one of the battles Pizzaro ambushed Atahuallpa and killed thousands of his men. He then strangled Atahuallpa after he gave him his ransom money. -
Jan 1, 1534
Jacques Cartier
Carter was a French explorer who led three expeditions to Canada. Jacques wanted to find a path to the Pacific through North America. Although he never found the path, he paved the way for a French exploration through North America. -
Jan 1, 1542
Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo
Joan was a Spanish explorer. He explored the natures of the Pacific Coast. Cabrillo got to Drake's Bay on his exploration. Drake's Bay is a place near San Francisco. -
Jan 1, 1577
Sir Francis Drake
Sir Francis was an English explorer from England. He was the first Englishmen to sail around the world. His sail took him 3 long years to complete, but at the end he got 10,000 euros. -
John Davis
John was an English explorer in 1585. He explored the coast of Greenland. During his expeditions John was looking for a pathway to Asia. -
Henry Hudson
Henry was an English explorer and a navigator who sailed to Northern America four times. On September 3, 1609 Hudson landed in a New York harbor. This harbor is now known as Hudson Bay named after him. He found this harbor by looking for pathways from North America to Asia but failing.
