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1000
Leif Erickson
He explored lands on the west of Greenland in about the year 1000. Erickson was blown by a storm in the same year. -
1488
Bartolomeu Dias
He discovered the southern tip of Africa Called it cape of good hope he was spooned by the country of Portuguese -
1492
Christopher Columbus
Sallied the Blue Ocean in 1492. Sailed for Spain. Tried to reach Asia by sailing eat across the Atlantic ocean, landed in the Americans but had belied he has reached Asia. ( even when he died in 1506) Made 4 trips across the Atlantic . -
1497
Vasco da Gama
He sailed all around Africa and all the way to India. He was winning the European race for a sea route to Asia -
1497
Pedro Alvarez Cabral
He found Brazil in claimed it for Portugal. -
1497
John Cabot
John was an Italian, to look for a northern see route to Asia in 1497 -
1499
Amerigo Vespucci
Led a voyage funded by Spain. On this and a later journey for the Portugal, he explored the south coat of South America. He realized South America was a separated Continent , and not part of Asia. -
1501
Vasco Nunez de Balboa
Was the first to see and claim the pacific ocean. Sponsored by the county of Portugal -
1513
Juan Ponce de Leon
Juan Ponce de Leon made the first Spanish landing on the East cost of the present-day Florida in 1513. Juan was not not only looking for gold he was looking "fountain of youth." -
1519
Hernan Cortes
Hernan Cortes landed on the East Coat of present-day Mexico. Within two years he conquered the Aztec Empire. -
1520
Ferdinand Magellan
In 1520 Ferdinand Magellan, a Portuguese explorer who was sailing for Spain, reached The southern tip of South America.
He sailed through the Stormy waters of a narrow sea passage, or strait .It led him to a calm ocean- the same one Balboa had seen.
The waters were so peaceful- pacific in a Spanish- that Magellan named the Ocean Pacific Ocean. Magellan died in the Philippine Islands but his crew continued to sail westward, arriving back in Spain in 1522. -
1524
Giovanni de Verrazano
Giovanni de Verrazano, to look for a northern route. Verrazano explored the coast of the North America from Present-day Nova Scotia down to the Carolinas -
1528
Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca
He was part of a Spanish expedition to Florida in 1528. -
1533
Francisco Pizarro
Francisco led an army into the Inca capital in Cuzco, Peru. -
1535
Jacques Cartier
in 1535 French explore Jacques Cartier sailed up the St.Lawewnce River, hoping it would lead to the Pacific. Cartier did not make it to the pacific, but he discovered a mountain peak that he named Mount-Royal, which means "Royal Mountain" -
1540
Francisco Vasquez de Coronado
His travels took him thought northern Mexico and present-day Arizona and New Mexico until his expedition reached a Zuni settlement in 1540. -
1541
Hernando de Soto
Hernando de Soto led an expedition to explore Florida and what is today the southern United States. De Soto crossed the Mississippi River in 1541 -
1542
Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo
on September 18 1542 the Spanish explored Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo discovered San Diego while searching for the Strait of Anian a mythical all -water passage across the north America continent and he would not be the last. -
Henry Hudson
The Dutch hired English sea explore and navigator Henry Huston to look for it. In 1609 he discover the river that now bears his name. Hudson sailed north on the Huston River as far as the site of present-day Albany, New York. Deciding that he had found a passage to India he turned back. -
Henry Hudson
the Following year Hudson to try again. On this trip, Hudson discovers a huge bay- now called Hudson Bay. Thinking he had reached the Pacific, Hudson spent months looking for an outlet. His crew became impatient and rebelled . They set Hudson, his son, and a few sailors adrift in a small boat, never to be seen again. -
Louis Joliet and Jacques Marquette
They traveled the Mississippi River by canoe. Joliet and Marquette hoped to find precious metals. They were also looking for a Northwest Passage. When they realized that the Mississippi flowed south into the Gulf of Mexico rather than west into the Pacific, they headed back. -
Robert Cavelier de La Salle
He followed the Mississippi all the way to the Gulf of Mexico. He claimed the region for France, calling it Louisiana in honor of Louis XIV. In 1718 the french founded New Orleans, French Explores and missionaries traveled west to the Rocky Mountains and the Rio Grande