European Explore the East

By amanda.zepp
  • Feb 1, 1418

    Prince Henry starts a navigation school

    About 1418, Prince Henry started the first school for oceanic navigation along with an astronomical observatory at Sagres, Portugal. In this school, people were trained in nagivation, map-making, and science, in order to sail down the west of Africa.
  • Feb 1, 1488

    Bartolomeu Dias rounds the southern tip of Africa

    He was the first European known to travel around the southern tip of Africa.
  • Oct 12, 1492

    Christopher Columbus reaches the Caribbean

    Christopher Columbus landed on a small island he called San Salvador.
  • Jun 7, 1494

    Spain and Portugal sign the Treaty of Tordesillas

    The purpose of signing the Treat of Tordesillas was to divide and colonize rights for all newly discovered lands between Spain and Portugal to the exclusion of other European nations.
  • May 20, 1498

    Vasco da Gama reaches the port of Calicut on the Indian Ocean

    He set sail July 8th, 1987 and got to Calicut four months later.
  • Mar 16, 1521

    Ferdinand Magellan leads a Spanish expedition to the Philippines

    Ferdinand Magellan, a Portuguese in the service of the Spanish crown, was looking for a westward route to the to the Spice Islands of Indonesia. On March 16, 1521, Magellan's expedition landed on Homonhon island in the Philippines. He was the first European to reach the islands.

  • The Dutch establish a trading center on Java

    It was the second multinational corporation in the world (the British East India Company was founded two years earlier) and the first company to issue stock. It was also arguably the first megacorporation, possessing quasi-governmental powers, including the ability to wage war, imprison and execute convicts, negotiate treaties, coin money, and establish colonies.

  • France sets up its own East India Company

    The Dutch East India Company was a chartered company established in 1602, when the States-General of the Netherlands granted it a 21-year monopoly to carry out colonial activities in Asia.

  • Spain begins settlements in the Philippines

    The Philippine Revolution against Spain began in August 1896, but it was largely unsuccessful until it received support from the United States, culminating two years later with a proclamation of independence and the establishment of the First Philippine Republic.