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Jan 1, 1450
Prince Henry the Navigator- Portugal
Prince Henry was born in 1394 in Portugal. He was a sailor and in January, 1450 he traveled to Sagres, Portugal and started the first European school. Henry just mostly travelled around the Indies and Africa. He tragically died in 1460. -
Jan 1, 1488
Bartolomew Dias- Portugal
Bartolmeu Dias was born in 1450 in Portugal. on New Year's Day, he was made a sailor and sailed his ship, with many others, around the coast of India and Africa and beyond the Cape of Good Hope. He, along with others, found out that the Cape of Good Hope was ironically named because of how stormy and windy his exploration was there. After a life of sailing, Bartolomeu died in 1500. -
Oct 12, 1492
Christopher Columbus- Italy
Christopher Columbus was born in 1451. On October 12, 1492 he was told by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain to sail around the world. He was very surprised to find America, which he thought was China. Back then, it was called The New World. Christopher died on May 20, 1506. -
May 4, 1493
Treaty of Tordesillas- Spanish and Portugese
This famous treaty was planned up on May 4, 1493 by Pope Alexander VI. He was very upset with all of the fightind that the Spanish and Portugese were doing because of their territories. The treaty said that their was to be an imaginary line separating two countries. But after all of that happened, the Portugese though that the Spanish had more land, and fought again. It was never ending!!! -
Jun 24, 1497
John Cabot- Italy
John Cabot was born in Italy in 1450, but later moved to England. On June 24, 1497 he sailed up by Canada and claimed the land as England's. He also named a lot of the places there. His expeditions were mostly from Europe to North America, and back. He sadly died in England in 1499. -
May 20, 1498
Vasco de Gama- Portugal
Vasco de Gama was born in 1460. On May 20, 1498 he sailed all the way up to Calicut and tryed to trade with the Arabs and Muslims, but they didn't want him to interfere. He also named that coast the Cape of Good Hope. Ferdinand then died in India of an illness on December 24, 1524. -
Oct 10, 1500
Pedro Cabral- Portugal
Pedro was born in Portgal in 1467. On October 10, 1500 he was made the leader of a voyage to the Indies, through the Cape of Good Hope. Pedro sailed with a whole group of men and tryed to go the same routes that famous explorers took, like Christopher Columbus and Bartolomeu Dias. It took months, but he finally made it. He sadly died in 1520. -
Jun 1, 1502
Amerigo Vespucci- Italy
Amerigo was born in Italy on March 18, 1454, but later traveled to Spain and Portugal. In 1497, he explored around the Atlantic coast of South America. He truly believed that he had found the New World. In June of 1502, while he was travelling, he named South America and North America after himself. In 1512, he died of malaria. -
Nov 10, 1509
Francisco Pizzaro- Spain
Fransisco was born in 1478 in Spain. On November 10, 1509 he sailed to the New World, but hit Venezuela and Colombia. He sailed the same route as Vasco Nunez de Balboa and travelled with his for a while. He sailed all around Mexico, where Hernan Cortez was, and he partnered up with many locals there. His life of sailing was cut short because he died in Lima, Peru on June 26,1541. -
Mar 1, 1513
Ponce de Leon- Spain
Ponce de Leon was born in Spain in 1460. He sailed with Christopher Columbus to the New World in 1493. In March of 1513, he started the search of the Fountain of Youth, which was supposed to be around Florida. He landed in Florida, not even knowing it, and named it Florida because it had many flowers, and Florida in Spanish means flowery. He didn't find the Fountain of Youth, so he turned back. In July of 1521, he was attacked by Native Americans and died. -
Sep 25, 1513
Vasco Nunez de Balboa- Spain
Vasco Nunez de Balboa was born in 1475 in Spain. He was inspired by the explorations of Chirstopher Columubs, so he tryed to be a sailor instead of a farmer, which he was horrible at. On September 25, 1513 he became the first European to look out at what would soon be called the Pacific Ocean. After all of that, though, he was beheaded by enemy Spaniards in January of 1519. -
Sep 1, 1519
Ferdinand Magellan- Portugal
Ferdinand was born in 1480. His first expedition was when he was only 25 years old. In September of 1519, his journey around the world started. While he was exploring, the crew would a strait by Africa, that he named the Strait of Magellan. Ferdinand died on April 27, 1521. -
Nov 1, 1519
Hernan Cortez- Spain
Hernan was born in 1485 in Spain. He really wanted to explore the New World around the time that Christopher Columbus was. In November of 1519, he travelled through Mexico and meet the Aztecs. He feared them somewhat, so he held the leader, Montezuma, hostage and asked for gold and silver. The Aztecs sent them out of Mexico, but they came back and completely took it over. He explored all over, but he died in 1547. -
Jul 8, 1524
Giovanni Verrazano- Italy
Giovanni was born in 1485, Tuscany, Italy. He was sent to find a quicker route to Orient and he returned claiming the New World for France in July of 1524. In 1528, he anchored ashore near Florida. After a life of riches and sailing, he died in 1528. -
Apr 1, 1528
Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca- Spain
Alvar was born in Spain around 1490. In April of 1528, he sailed on the west coast of Florida and claimed is as Spanish territory. His time there was tough because of so many hurricanes and storms that he ran into, and a lot of his crew died there. After all of that, though, he died around 1557. -
Jan 1, 1531
Jacques Cartier- France
Jacques was born in France in 1491. In 1531, he started exploring with his French crew around the New World. Like Amerigo Vespucci, he sailed around Canada. After all of that, he died in 1557. -
Jun 24, 1542
Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo- Spain
Juan was born in 1499. He sailed along with Hernan Cortez through Mexico. On June 24, 1542 he lead a famous expedition around the west coast of North America, and found that he was the first to do so. He died on San Miguel Island on January 3, 1543. -
Dec 13, 1577
Sir Francis Drake
Sir Francis Drake was born an Englishman and dreamed of sailing. He became a captain in 1567 and lead several trading voyages. In 1577, he was chosen for a secret expedition by Queen Elizabeth I. He landed near San Fransico and named it New Albion. He claimed the land for England. -
John Davis- England
John was born around 1550 in England. In 1585, he took off on his very first expedition. He sailed along the Baffin Islands. He also sailed on a ship called The Black Dog, which fought against the Spanish Armada. Also, he founded the Falklan Islands in 1592. Sadly, though, he died in 1605. -
Henry Hudson- Enlgand
Henry Hudson was born around 1565. On May 1, 1607 he tried to get to China, but instead made his way through the New World and Canada. The Hudson Bay, the Hudson Strait, and the Hudson River are all named after him. He was very iconic, but very tragically died in 1611.
