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Jan 1, 1450
Prince Henry the Navigator
Prince Henry opened a way for later explorations. set up the first European school for navigators in Sagres, Portugal. He organized a way for others to learn the most skilled way to sail. the prince gathered portuguese, spanish, jewish,arab, and italian mathematicians, chartmakers, astronmers, and sea captains. -
Jan 1, 1473
Bartolomeu Dias
He explored after Prince Henry died, but slowly. He crossed the equater in 1473. In 1487 he readied ships for a long voyage and packed many supplies. A storm blew him southward and around the south tip of Africa. He named it the Cape of Storms. Now they knew they could sail to the far East. -
Jan 1, 1476
John Cabot
Cabot lived in Venice, Italy, the main trading center for the entire Mediterranean region. He worked there as a merchant and a navigator. Horrible experiences with Arab traders probably influenced Cabot’s decision to find a sea route to the Far East which would allow merchants to trade directly with Asian traders instead of the Arab traders. -
Jan 1, 1492
Christpher Columbus
He was a skilled navigator from Genoa. He was well educated and believed the world was round. He thought he could reach Asia by sailing west. After eight years he finally got support from Queen Isabella of Spain. When he reached the Bahamas he thought it was the Indies. He spent months, gathered supplies, and created the first european settlement. He took back with him gold, parrots, cotton and other things. -
Jan 1, 1494
Treaty Of Tordesillas
The Treaty of Tordesillas was agreed upon by the Spanish and the Portuguese to clear up confusion on newly claimed land in the New World. The early 1400s brought about great advances in European exploration. In order make trade more efficient, Portugal attempted to find a direct water route to the India and China. By using a direct water route, Arab merchants, who owned land trade routes, were not able to make a profit off of the European trade merchants. Info Found @ http://www.thenagain.info -
Jul 1, 1497
Vasco da Gama
A portugeuese noble that lead a convoy. He sailed to the island of Mozambique. It was a muslim trading center. They forced him to leave. He next stoped in Malindi, present day Kenya. He took supplies and useful skills. He landed in Calicut. The residents tried to kill him, but then he left. -
Jan 1, 1500
Pedro Cabral
He discovered Brazil and sailed east to India. His country was Portugal. -
Jan 1, 1501
Amerigo Vespucci
He was one of the first explorers to come up with the idea that these places he had visited were not part of Asia (as Columbus thought) but rather were part of a "New World." He was well-educated by his uncle, and became a businessman involved in trading goods. That is how he became familiar with ships. Info Found @ http://library.thinkquest.org/4034/vespucci.html -
Jan 1, 1513
Ponce de Leon
He sailed north from Puerto Rico to explore Florida -
Jan 2, 1513
Vasco Nunez de Balboa
He was the first European to sight the Eastern shore of the Pacific Ocean. His is from spain. -
Jan 2, 1520
Hernan Cortez
He invaded Mexico with help of guns and smallpox. He took alot of gold from them too. -
Jan 1, 1524
Giovanni Verrazano
He began a voyage of discovery to the New World on behalf of his patron Francis I, during which he kept a log-book of his experiences. he sailed along Long Island Sound to Block Island and Newport, of which he makes mention. Info Found @ http://www.greve-in-chianti.com/verrazano.htm -
Jan 1, 1528
Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca
Narváez was commissioned to colonize "Florida" which was at that time the entire Gulf Coast from current Florida and Pánuco Province of Mexico. In 1528, Narváez landed on the west coast of Florida from Cuba where he became lost on an overland probe with about 300 men. Info Found @ http://www.tamu.edu/faculty/ccbn/dewitt/cabeza.htm -
Jan 1, 1529
Ferdinand Magellan
He set sail from Spain in 1529.commanded a fleet of five ships and 256 men. As he sailed through the Pacific Ocean he lost 2 ships and were out of supplies. Then they landed in Mariana and suffered scurvy then they went back home. -
Apr 1, 1531
Jacques Cartier
Francis 1st commissioned Cartier to look for the Northwest Passage, the short route to the Pacific Ocean that had eluded John Cabot in 1497. Cartier got two small ships and 61 crew members. He left Saint Malo in April. Info Found @ http://library.thinkquest.org/J002678F/jacques_cartier.htm -
Jan 1, 1532
Francisco Pizarro
He invaded Peru he then conquered the Inca empire five years later. Stole tons of Gold then set up the city, Lima, the city of kings -
Jun 27, 1542
Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo
Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo led the first European expedition to explore what is now the west coast of the United States. Cabrillo departed from the port of Navidad, Mexico, on June 27, 1542. Three months later he arrived at "a very good enclosed port." That port is known today as San Diego bay. Historians believe he anchored his flagship, the San Salvador, on Point Loma's east shore near Cabrillo National Monument. Info Found @ http://www.nps.gov/archive/cabr/juan.html -
Dec 13, 1577
Sir Francis Drake
He and more than 160 men sailed from Plymouth on five ships, including Drake's flagship, the Golden Hind. After leaving Sao Tiago in the Cape Verde Islands, Drake's expedition met two Portuguese ships. He captured one of the vessels and gave its command to a friend,Thomas Doughty. The ships then sailed south along the Atlantic coast of South America and ran into violent storms. They stopped at San Julian. Info Found @ http://library.thinkquest.org/4034/drake.html -
John Davis
Explored west coast of Greenland in search of northwest passage to Asia. -
Henry Hudson
He moved to Holland and sailed for a Dutch trading company on the ship named Half Moon. In 1609 he set sail from Amsterdam and headed north, again trying to find a way through the Arctic to the Far East. This time, conditions were so bad that his crew of about 20 men threatened to mutiny. Hudson turned the ship around and headed south down the east coast of Canada.
