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Jul 11, 1405
Zheng He takes first voyage
Zheng He was one of the greastest explorers ever. He traveled on a ship much bigger then Coloumbus's, and with more ships then him, and he didn't travel for trade much, but he traveled to gain more respect from other countries, and for other countries to keep aknowledging the superiority of the Chinese emperor. -
Jun 1, 1419
Prince Henry Founds First Navigation School
Prince Herny explored for God. He wanted to spread Christianity. -
Jun 1, 1433
Ming China Adopts Isolationist Policy Following Zheng He's Seventh Voyage
To keep the influnce of outsiders to a minimum only the governemnt could conduct foreign trade, and only through three coastal ports. -
Aug 3, 1492
Christopher Columbus lands in Hispaniola
Columbus convinced Spain to finance his plan to find a route to Asia by sailing west across the Atlantic Ocean. He reached an island in the Carribean, which he though was the East Indies, but his voyage would open the way for European colonization of the Americas. -
Jun 7, 1494
Spain and Portugal sign the Treaty of Tordesillas
Tension grew between Spain and Portugal because they both claimed the same land. Pope Alexander VI stepped in to keep peace between the two nations, so he suggested drawing an imaginary line. Portugal complained that the line gave too much too Spain, so it was moved farther west. Portugal and Spain then signed the Treaty of Tordesillas to honor the line. -
May 20, 1498
Vasco da Gama reaches India
De Gama and his crew find spices, rare sils, and precious gems in Calicut, India. When they returned to Portugal in 1499 thier cargo was 60 times the cost of thier voyage. De Gama's voayge of 27,000 miles gave Portugal a direct sea route to India. -
Tokugawa Ieyasu becomes shogun of Japan
Tokugawa moved Japan's capital to his power base at Edo, s small fishing village that later would become Tokyo. To keep daimyo from rebeling that had to spend every other year in the captial, and when they returned to thier lands, they had to leave thier families behind as hostages in Edo. -
Manchus establish Qing Dynasty in China
The Manchus were non-Chinese so at first many Chinese resisted rule. However, slowly they earned the people's respect. The Manchus upheld China's traditional Confucian beliefs and social structures, and they also made the country's frontiers safe and restored China's prosperity.
