Age of Exploration Timeline

Columbus' Birth

1451

Columbus was born in the Republic of Genoa, aka Italy in 1451.

Amerigo Vespucci's Birth

Mar 9, 1454

Amerigo Vespucci was born on March 9, 1454 in Florence, Italy, to the Medici Family.

Columbus' First Voyage to the Atlantic

1476

When Christopher Columbus was on his first voyage to the Atlantic Ocean, he was attacked by French Privateers off the coast of Portugal, almost costing his life.

Ferdinand Magellan's birth

1480

circa 1480, Ferdinand Magellan was born in Portugal either in Porto or Sabrosa.

Columbus getting approval for his voyage to "Asia"

1486

Before seeing Ferdinand of Aragon, Columbus tried to get approval from other places, but his proposal always got rejected. When meeting Ferdinand, he got rejected as well as there was a big war against the muslims going on. Eventually, the trip was financed after Columbus kept lobbying the court.

Columbus' First Voyage to America, or what he thought was Asia.

1492

Christopher Columbus heard about what riches were in Asia like spices and other goods and tries to find a westerly route there. He estimated the route to be about 2,300 miles, in which that was wrong. With three ships, Columbus made it to "Asia" (America) in 36 days.

Landing in Bahamas

1492

The first place Columbus landed was in present-day Bahamas. There, he claimed it for Spain and met some friendly natives who were willing to trade with him. Columbus notices they had gold, meaning there could be gold.

Columbus' Return to Spain

1493

After a journey through "Asia" and meeting the natives there, Columbus returns home to Spain with success, although his ship "Santa Maria" has wrecked and 39 of his men stayed behind and made civilization there. In his return, Columbus talked about his expedition, although not always speaking the truth.

Columbus' Second Expedition

1493

Columbus took a second expedition. He had explored more islands in the Caribbean Ocean. He was disappointed to see his 39 sailor's settlement, Navidad, was destroyed. He had put the natives into labor to rebuild the settlement and look for gold for him. In return, he had a small amount of gold, but a great hatred to the natives. Returning to Spain, Columbus left his two brothers to govern what is called "Hispaniola".

Vespucci meets Columbus

1496

In 1496, when Columbus returned from one of his voyages, Vespucci had the opportunity to meet him. Columbus had inspired Vespucci to explore the world, in which he intends to become an explorer as the business he was having wasn't going so well.

Vespucci's First Voyage

1497

In 1497, Vespucci had left on his first voyage to the west indies. During his journey, Vespucci traveled through mainland South America, making big discoveries. He had written the events of his journey in a controversial letter.

Columbus' Third Expedition

1498

On Columbus' third voyage, he reached mainland South America. The problem was that on his Hispaniola settlement, there was near-mutiny. The settlers complained about Columbus' claims of gold and the management of his brothers. He was then arrested and took him out of his authority. After facing the royal court, charges dropped, but he lost his title of being governor of the Indies and his riches from the voyages.

Vespucci's Second Voyage

1499

In 1499, Vespucci left on his next voyage. This time, he was sailing under the Spanish flag. He was a navigator under Alonzo de Ojeda. The journey involved crossing the equator and travelling to the coast of what is now called Guyana. He also went to Brazil, in which he discovers the Amazon River and Cape St. Auguste.

Vespucci's Third Voyage

1501

In service to King Manuel I of Portugal, Vespucci went on his third voyage. Portuguese officers made him in charge of this voyage. In the voyage, he discovers Rio de Janeiro and Rio de la Plata. Vespucci believed he had found a new continent and named it South America.

Columbus' fourth and last expedition

Period: 1502 to 1504

On his last expedition, Columbus had an unsuccessful search for the Indian Ocean. A storm wrecked one of his ships, which stranded its captain and crew. In the meantime, local islanders had it with Columbus and his crew with how he treated them. Columbus, furious, had a plan to "take away the moon". Luckily, a lunar eclipse came in 1504, making the natives think that he had taken away the moon. He was eventually rescued in 1504 and came home.

Vespucci's Return to Brazil

1503

In 1503, Vespucci made a return trip to Brazil. During the trip, Vespucci lost crew members, but he managed to discover Bahia and the island of South Georgia.

Magellan's Journey to the Spice Islands

Period: 1505 to 1511

In 1505, Magellan joined the Portuguese fleet on a trip to East Africa. By 1509, he found himself in the Battle of Diu, in which the Portuguese were plowing their way trough Egyptian ships. In 1511, two years later, Magellan explored Malacca, in which he found the Spice Islands, which were nearby islands.

Naming the New World after Amerigo

1507

In 1507, German cartographer Martin Waldseemuler proposed to named the new world after Amerigo Vespucci called America. (America is the feminine name for Amerigo) in honor of his great discovery.

Vespucci's final days

1508

In 1508, Vespucci was awarded the office of piloto mayor. There, he recruited and trained other navigators and explorers, as well as gathering data on further New World explorations.

Magellan gets Accused

1513

During his service in Morocco, Magellan had been wounded, and after his injury, he was accused of trading illegally with the Moors, and was punished by having further employment offers taken from him.

Magellan's Proposition for a shorter route

1517

When he moved to Seville, Spain in 1517, Magellan was studying maps and Greek texts. He hand an understanding of the world being route. He then proposed that he could find a quicker and shorter route to The Spice Islands than his previous expedition.

The Approval of Magellan's trip back to The Spice Islands

1519

When King Charles I of Spain approved of Magellan's plan of making a shorter route to the Spice Islands, Magellan started his expedition to The Spice Islands.

Magellan's Trip back to The Spice Islands

Period: 1519 to 1521

On Magellan's quest, he rounded South America through what he named, "The Strait of Magellan". In 1521, they made it to Guam and then to Homonhom Island. There, Magellan made a trade agreement with Rajah Humabon, their king.

Magellan's Death

1521

The Spanish crew had war against their king. Sadly, Magellan was killed in battle.

The Trip back to Spain.

Period: 1521 to 1522

Despite Magellan's death, his surviving crew escaped and managed to make it to The Spice Islands in late 1521, and then made it back to Spain in 1522, being the first crew to go across the globe completely. Magellan was praised for it.