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Jun 1, 1405
Zheng He takes his first voyage
Zheng He was a Chinese Muslim admiral who took his armada on seven voyages to expand China's tribute system by showing off the superiority of Ming China -
Jun 1, 1419
Henry the Navigator founds first navigation school
The school included mapmakers, instrument makers, shipbuilders, scientists, and sea captains and helped the Portuguese explore sea routes to trade with Africa and India -
Jun 1, 1433
Ming China adopts isolationist policy following Zheng He's seventh voyage
Even though many countries sent tribute to China, Chinese scholar-officials thought his voyages wasted resources that should be used defending China -
Jun 1, 1492
Christopher Columbus lands in Hispaniola
Columbus thought he had landed in the East Indies. He was sailing for Spain, and his voyage started European colonization of the Americas. -
Jun 1, 1494
Spain and Portugal sign the Treaty of Tordesillas
This treaty established the Line of Demarcation, an imaginary line that gave all the lands to the west to Spain and all the land to the East to Portugal -
Sep 16, 1498
Vasco da Gama reaches India
Da Gama brought back spices, silks, and gems worth 60 times the cost of the voyage and established a direct sea route to India -
Tokugawa Ieyasu becomes shogun of Japan
He completed the unification of Japan and moved the capital to Edo (Tokyo) -
Manchus establish Qing Dynasty in China
For almost 300 years the Qing ruled China and expanded the borders to include Taiwan, Chinese Central Asia, Mongolia, and Tibet.
