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1492
Columbus Lands in Hispaniola
When the Santa Maria became grounded, he ordered a
small fort to be built with its salvaged lumber, named it La Navidad, and left
about forty men to remain there until his return. -
1513
Balboa Discovers the pacific ocean
Born in Spain in 1475, explorer and conquistador Vasco Núñez de Balboa helped establish the town of Darién on the Isthmus of Panama, becoming interim governor. In 1513, he led the first European expedition to the Pacific Ocean, -
1521
Cortez Conquers the Aztecs
Hernan Cortés invaded Mexico in 1519 and conquered the Aztec Empire. Credit: Public domain. Engraving by W. Holl, 1837. Hernán Cortés is one of the most well-known Spanish conquistadors. -
1539
De Soto Explores The Region Around Florida
Hernando de Soto was born c. 1500 in Jerez de los Caballeros, Spain. In the early 1530s, while on Francisco Pizarro's expedition, de Soto helped conquer Peru. In 1539 he set out for North America, where he discovered the Mississippi River. -
English Settlement
First English settlement in the Americas, founded in Jamestown Virginia. -
Mayflower Pilgrims
The Mayflower was an English ship that famously transported the first English Puritans, known today as the Pilgrims, from Plymouth, England to the New World in 1620. There were 102 passengers, and the crew is estimated to have been about 30, but the exact number is unknown. -
France Explorers Claim Mississippi
La Salle Claims Land for France. French explorer, Rene-Robert Cavelier de La Salle, sailed from the Great Lakes up the St. Lawrence River, through the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico, to the mouth of the Mississippi River in 1682.
