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1488
Bartolomeu Dias rounded Africa’s Cape of Good Hope
Description: The crew spotted landfall on February 3, 1488, about 300 miles east of present-day Cape of Good Hope. Why It's Important: Dias' two ships sailed off the coast of South Africa, storms blew them away from the coast. ... Dias' decision was risky, but it worked. -
Sep 3, 1492
Christopher columbus reaches the Americas
Description: Columbus reaches America and he thinks he is in Asia and thinks the land is new and nobody else hasher been there, so he explores it. Why It's important: This is important because he founded the Americas so we have some where to live now and if he didn't we wouldn't live here we would live somewhere else. -
Mar 15, 1493
Columbus returned to Spain from his first voyage
Description: When Columbus arrived back in Spain on March 15, 1493, he immediately wrote a letter announcing his discoveries to King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella Why It's Important: This is important because it is showing that he was excited to tell the king and queen what he had found on his journeys. -
1494
Treaty of Tordesillas happen
Description: agreement between Spain and Portugal aimed at settling conflicts over lands newly discovered or explored by Christopher Columbus and other late 15th-century voyagers. Why It's Important: The Treaty of Tordesillas (1494) between Spain and Portugal, dividing the non-European world between them, gave the Portuguese a legal claim to a large part of the area to be called Brazil. -
1497
Vasco da Gama, Explore Africa until he reached India.
Description: sailed from Lisbon in 1497 on a mission to reach India and open a sea route from Europe to the East. ... Two decades later, da Gama again returned to India, this time as Portuguese viceroy; he died there of an illness in late 1524. Why It's Important: This is important because Vasco sailed all the way to what he thought was India and then sailed all the way back later on yet then he died. -
1498
Columbus' third voyage
Description: Columbus left the port of Sanlucar in southern Spain on May 30, 1498 with six ships, bound for the New World on his third voyage. After stopping at the islands of Porto Santo and Madeira, the fleet arrived at Gomera in the Canary Islands Why It's Important: This is important because he wanted to explore the "New World" more then he did the first, and second time. -
1499
Amerigo Vespucci traveled along the east coast of South America. He said what
Description: Vespucci sailed to the northern part of South America and into the Amazon River. He gave places he saw names like the "Gulf of Ganges," thinking, as his explorer contemporaries did, that he was in Asia. Why It's Important: This is important because he said he was in Asia when he was in fact in America -
May 14, 1501
John cabot and amerigo vespucci explore the Americas
Description: Vespucci sailed to the northern part of South America and into the Amazon River. He gave places he saw names thinking, as his explorer contemporaries did, that he was in Asia. Why It's Important: This is important because they thought they were in Asia so they named these places even though most of them had names already. -
1502
Columbus fourth Voyage
Description: Columbus did explore parts of southern Central America, but his ships, damaged by a hurricane and termites, fell apart while he was exploring Why It's Important: This is important because he went on another voyage but this one did not end up how he wanted It to. -
1513
Vasco Nunez de Balboa reached the South Sea
Description: helped establish the first stable settlement on the South American continent at Darién, on the coast of the Isthmus of Panama. In 1513, while leading an expedition in search of gold, he sighted the Pacific Ocean. Why It's Important: This is important because this is when first sighted the Pacific Ocean. -
1513
Pizarro discovered Peru
Description: Vasco Núñez de Balboa in his march to the "South Sea," during which Balboa discovered the Pacific Ocean. In 1532, Pizarro and his brothers conquered Peru Why Its important: this is important because they went to conquer Peru and they did. -
1518
Hernand Cortes landed on the shores of Mexico.
Description: Cortés was to command his own expedition to Mexico, but Velázquez canceled it. Cortés ignored the order and set sail for Mexico with more than 500 men and 11 ships that fall. Why Its Important: This is important because he disobeyed his orders and set sail and got a lot of people killed. -
1519
Spanish conquest of Mexico begins
Description: What happened when the Spanish conquest of Mexico began was people began conquering the Aztec empire in 1521 and claiming Mexico for Spain. Why It's Important: It is important because if the conquest never happened then Mexico would have never belonged to Spain and we wouldn't have got it back -
Nov 28, 1520
Magellan Sails into Pacific Ocean
Description: While the crossing was long, and supplies were almost exhausted, the ocean itself was so calm that the sailors renamed it the "Pacific." The ships landed in Guam in March of 1521, where they re-supplied and set sail again. Why It's Important: This is important because this is how the Pacific Ocean got its name, and who named it. -
Roanoke was founded.
Description: White returned to England to procure more supplies, but the war with Spain delayed his return to Roanoke. By the time he finally returned in August 1590, everyone had vanished. Why It's Important: These conditions undoubtedly contributed to the demise of the so-called Lost Colony, but where the settlers went after they left Roanoke remains a mystery. -
English Found Massachusetts bay colony
Description: Jacob van Neck was the first Dutch fleet to reach the 'Spice Islands' of Maluku, the source of pepper, cutting out the Javanese middlemen. The ships returned to Europe in 1599 and 1600 and the expedition made a 400 percent profit. Why It's Important: This is important because this is when we transported goods and products back to France from the Americas. -
First Dutch fleet arrived in India
Description: Jacob van Neck was the first Dutch fleet to reach the 'Spice Islands' of Maluku, the source of pepper, cutting out the Javanese middlemen. The ships returned to Europe in 1599 and 1600 and the expedition made a 400 percent profit. Why It's Important: This is important because this is when we transported goods and products back to France from the Americas. -
Jamestown in Virginia is established by the English.
Description: sail to the new, mysterious land, which they called Virginia in honor of Elizabeth I, the Virgin Queen, and begin a settlement. They established Jamestown, Virginia, on May 14, 1607, the first permanent British settlement in North America. Why It's Important: This is important because they made the first permanent British settlement in North America. -
Dutch Explorers explore austria
Description: English explorer Henry Hudson explored what is now New York and northeastern Canada. Today he has both a river and bay named after him (1609-1611). Abel Tasman is the first known European to sight the islands of Tasmania Why It's Important: This is important because Hudson found what is now New York and Northeast Canada. -
First boatload of slaves brought directly from Africa to the Americas.
Description: More than a century and a half after the Portuguese first traded slaves on the African coast, European ships had brought a million Africans to colonies and plantations in the Americas and force them to labor as slaves. Why It's Important: This is important because its when slavery first began in the Americas. -
Plymouth was founded
Description: The settlers were a group of about 100 Puritan Separatist Pilgrims, who sailed on the Mayflower and settled on what is now Cape Cod bay, Massachusetts. Why its important: This is important because this is when the pilgrims lived in America. -
La Salle Explores the lower Mississippi River
Description: On July 24, 1684, La Salle sailed again from France and returned to America with a large expedition designed to establish a French colony. Why It's Important: This is important because this is when the first made a French colony. -
Columbus sailed out of a spanish port and sailed towards the New World
Description: Finding a new route to India, China, Japan and the Spice Islands. If Columbus could reach these lands, he would be able to bring back rich cargoes of silks and spices. Why I'ts Important: It is important because if Columbus never went out to find a new route to Asia and other places we wouldn't not live here where we do now.
