Exploration

Sea Route To Asia

1400

In the 1400s European Merchants, new monarchs of England, Spain, Portugal, and France started finding a sea route to Asia because they wanted to increase their power by trading silks and spices found in Asia.

Navigational School

1420

A navigational school was founded by Prince Henry on the southwestern coast of Portugal

Azores Islands Discovery

1430

Diogo de Silves discovers the Azores

Cape Verde and the Gambia River

1446

The Portuguese reached the mainland peninsula of Cape Verde and the Gambia River.

Cape Verde Islands

1456

Alvise Cadamosto and Diogo Gomes discover the Cape Verde Islands, 560 kilometres (350 mi) west of the Cape Verde peninsula.

Vasco Da Gama

1460

Vasco da Gama led an expedition that opened the sea route to India by way of the Cape of Good Hope at the southern tip of Africa. He established a route around Africa's Cape of Good Hope, up the coast of East Africa, and finally to Calicut in India.

Lopo Gonçalves

1473

Lopo Gonçalves becomes the first European sailor to cross the Equator.

Diogo Cão

1482

Diogo Cão reaches the Congo River, where he builds a padrão ("pillar of stone")

Christopher Columbus

1492

Christopher Columbus wanted to reach the East Indies by sailing west across the Atlantic Ocean. He, however, greatly underestimated the size of Earth. There were two previously unknown continents that separated Spain and the East Indies. On October 12 he discovered the Caribbean Islands accidentally and believed he had reached the East Indies.

Spanish Settlers and Missonaries

1500

Spanish settlers and missionaries followed the army to Spain's new empire. Wherever they went, they established colonies, claiming the land and its people for their King and Church.

1520 Exploration

1520

João Alvares Fagundes explores Burgeo, Saint Pierre, Miquelon in Newfoundland, and Nova Scotia.

Jacques Cartier

1530

Jacques Cartier explores the Gulf of St. Lawrence, discovering Anticosti Island and Prince Edward Island.

3 Islands & 8 Atolls

1543

Ruy López de Villalobos discovers three islands (Fais, Ulithi, and Yap) in the Carolines and eight atolls (Kwajalein, Lae, Ujae, Wotho, Likiep, Wotje, Erikub, and Maloelap) in the Marshall Islands.

Steven Borough

1556

Steven Borough reaches as far as the Kara Strait, between Novaya Zemlya and Vaygach Island.

Abraham Ortelius produces a map

1560

Abraham Ortelius came up with a map that showed all of the continents in their correct shapes.

Sir Francis Drake

1577

Sir Francis Drake completes the second circumnavigation of the globe.

Sir Walter Raleigh

1585

Sir Walter Raleigh established the Roanoke colony.

Willem Barentsz

1596

Willem Barentsz discovers Spitsbergen.

Triangular Trade

1600

Triangular Trade was a series of trade routes that linked Europe, Africa, and America. First, merchant ships brought European goods to Africa. Then, the goods were exchanged for slaves and the slaves were sailed to the Americas. In the Americas, the slaves were traded for raw materials which were shipped to Europe, completing the process.