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1000
Lief Erickson sailed for Norway
Lief Erickson was a viking who came to america looking for food. He stumbled upon america on accident. He was the first non-native to reach north america. -
1419
Prince Henry the Navigator sailed for portugal
Prince Henry wanted to create a school tor sailing and exploration. He had this idea in the winter, so he could not act upon it at that time. He opened it up in the spring of 1419. -
1487
Bartolomeu Dias sailed for Portugal
Bartolomeu Dias was the first person to discover the cape of good hope. The cape of good hope was a path around the southern tip of Africa. This was also his final resting place. -
Aug 3, 1492
Christopher Columbus sailed for Spain
Christopher Columbus was an Italian explorer who sailed for Spain after the Italian monarchy rejected him. He "discovered" the Americas in 1492. He also wiped out most of the natives with smallpox. -
Jun 24, 1497
John Cabot Sailed for England
Cabot was a explorer for England, and he claimed part of Canada for England. When he did this, he thought that it was Asia. This set the course for England's rise to power. -
Jul 1, 1497
Vasco Da Gama sailed for Portugal
The nobleman Vasco Da Gama wanted to open a sea route from Europe to the east. He sailed all the way from Lisbon to try to go to India. He died in his home town of Lisbon. -
May 10, 1501
Amerigo Vespucci sailed for Spain
Amerigo Vespucci Is the man after which the Americas are named for. Even though it was thought that he did, he did not discover the Americas. He was an Italian navigator that claimed to have discovered America. -
Apr 3, 1513
Juan Ponce de Leon sailed for
Juan Ponce de Leon was a Spanish explorer and conquistador. He led the first European expedition into what is now Florida. He also served as the first governor of Puerto Rico. -
Sep 25, 1513
Vasco Nunez de Balboa sailed for Spain
Vasco Nunez de Balboa was a conquistador/explorer. He is known as the first European to reach the pacific from America. -
Aug 13, 1519
Hernan Cortes
Hernan Cortes was a Spanish conquistador who started his conquering career in cuba in 1511 where he was a soldier. Later, he led an expedition that caused the fall of the Aztec empire. This also brought in a lot of land for spain. -
Aug 20, 1519
Ferdinand Magellan for Portugal and Spain
Magellan was a portuguese explorer who sailed on behalf of Spain. He organized an expedition to the east indies from 1519 to 1522. He himself did not circumnavigate the globe, but one of his crew-mates, Juan Sebastián Elcano did. -
Apr 15, 1528
Alavr Nunez Cabeza de Vaca sailed for Spain
Alavr Nunez Cabeza de Vaca was a Spanish explorer of the new world. He went on an expedition in 1527. He was one of four survivors. -
Nov 15, 1532
Francisco Pizarro sailed for the Spanish Empire
Francisco Pizarro was a Spanish conquistador. He is best known for his conquer of Peru for Spain. This led to spanish culture dominating South America. -
Apr 1, 1534
Jacques Cartier sailed for France
Jacques Cartier was the first European to navigate the St. Lawrence river. This took him three different trips. This set up claims for the french later on. -
May 30, 1539
Hernando de Soto sailed for Spain
Hernando de Soto wanted to be rich, so he went to go conquer Florida for Spain. Hernando and his men traveled nearly 4000 miles, fighting natives along the way. -
Jun 29, 1541
Francisco Vasquez de Coronado sailed for Spain
Francisco Vasquez de Coronado was a spanish conquistador. He led a large expedition from Mexico to present day Kansas. He went through the southwestern United States. -
Oct 28, 1542
Juan Cabrillo sailed for Spain
Juan Cabrillo was a soldier and explorer for Spain. He is mostly known for his exploration of California for Spain. He is believed to be of Portuguese descent. -
Samuel de Champlain sailed for France.
Samuel de Champlain explored the Atlantic coastline in the name of France. He also explored the interior of Canada.