Explorer's Timeline

Leif Ericsson

Jan 1, 1000

~Born in about 980
~Possibly the first European to sail to North America
~Was a viking
~Later he inherited the position of Norse leader in Greenland
~His father was Erci the Red

Explorer's timeline

Period: Sep 10, 1000 to Sep 10, 1700

Prince Henry the Navigator

Jan 1, 1418

~ Henry the Navigator
~ Henry was the third son of King John I of Portugal and his English wife, Philippa of Lancaster
~ He taught people science, map making and navigation

Bartolomeu Dias

Jan 1, 1488

~He led the first European expedition to sail around Africa's Cape of Good Hope
~He was one of the first Europeans to see Brazil
~He died during his expedition
~He was lost at sea near the Cape of Good Hope in 1500

Christopher Colombus ~ Voyage 1

Aug 3, 1492

~He was hoping to find a route to India
~He sailed for the king and queen of Spain
~He used 3 ships the Nina, Pinta and the Santa Maria
~He was looking for gold and loot
~Only 1 of the 3 ships made it back to Spain, the Nina because the captain of the Pinta sailed off in a different direction to deat Columbus back and the Santa Maria wrecked

Christopher Columbus ~ Voyage 2

Sep 25, 1493

~He sailed with 12 boats and 1200 to 1500 men
~He was looking to find gold and capture slaves
~He sailed around Hispaniola and along southern Cuba
~He spotted and named the island of Dominica in 1493

John Cabot - Voyage 1

Jun 24, 1497

~Giovanni Caboto was his original name
~He died in England in 1499
~He sailed for England on his first voyage and was trying to get to Canada
~Explored the Canadian coastline and its islands and capes.

Vasco da Gama

Jul 8, 1497

~He discovered an ocean route from Portugal to the East
~He was born into a noble family in Sines, Portugal
~His father Estavao was also an explorer
~He was in India until he was told to pay a large tax and leave all of his trading goods
~On his second trip he took 20 armer ships, on this voyage he killed lots of muslims to show his power
~In 1524 he died of an illness in India, then his remains were transported to Portugal for burial

John Cabot - Voyage 2

Jan 1, 1498

~May have reached Canada
~His expeditions were the first of Britian's claims to Canada
~This second expedition was larger and took place in 1498

Christopher Columbus ~ Voyage 3

May 30, 1498

~He sailed farther south to Trinidad and Venezuela
~He was the first European since Leif Eriksson to step foot on America

Amerigo Vespucci

Sep 10, 1499

~He was the first person to find out that the Americas were seperate continents from Asia
~He sailed for Spain on his first voyage and discovered the mouth of the Amazon
~He sailed for Portugal on the second voyage and mapped some of the eastern coast of South America and discovered the New world
~He accomplished finding the Americas

Christopher Columbus ~ Voyage 4

May 9, 1502

~On his last voyage he sailed to Mexico, Honduras, Panama and Santiago
~He was buried in eastern Hispaniola

Sebastian Cabot

Jan 1, 1508

~He was a mapmaker, navigator, and a explorer
~He explored for the Northwest passage across North America
~He discovered the Paraná River
~He was banished from Spain to Africa for 2 years, then it was lowered to 1 year
~People doubt that his voyage in search of a Northwest passage in North America actually happened

Vasco Nunez de Balboa

Jan 1, 1513

~Born in the year 1475
~He sailed for Columba, South America searching for treasure
~He did accomplish his goals because he he was the first to see the Pacific Ocean
~He married the daughter of Careta
~He was beheaded in Acla in 1519
~He went on his voyages with his dog, Leoncico

Ferdinand Magellan

Jan 1, 1519

~He was born in northern Portugal
~Sailed the whole way around the earth
~His accomplishment was finding and naming the Pacific Ocean
~After the dispute with the Portuguese King Manoel II turned him againest the Portuguese
~He was killed toward the end of the voyage during a battle with the natives

Hernando Cortes

Jan 1, 1519

~He searched for gold, silver and other treasures in the Yucatan Peninsula with 11 ships
~He heard rumors of large riches, so he traveled inland and "discovered" Tenochtitlan, the capital of the Aztec empire
~He was appointed governor of the colony of New Spain
~He returned to Spain where he died soon later

Hernando De Soto

Jan 1, 1524

~He was born in Extremadura, in about 1500
~He sailed for Flordia and spent 4 years looking for gold and silver
~He was named the governer of Cuba
~He was buried in the banks of the Mississippi River in June, 1542

Estevanico

Jan 3, 1528

~He was a muslim slave
~He was one of the early explorers of the Southwestern United States
~Estevanico was one of the 4 people who survived the hurricanes, winter with little food and were not enslaved by the native tribes
~He explored the Southwestern U.S.
~He did accomplish something, he started out a slave

Francisco Pizarro

Jan 1, 1532

~He "discovered" the Incan empire and stole lots of gold, silver, and other treasures
~He explored much of the Pacific coast of America along Peru
~He founded Lima, Peru
~Where he was later assassined in 1541, in Lima

Jacque Cartier

Jan 1, 1534

~He led 3 expeditions to Canada in 1534, 1535 and 1541
~He explored North America, more specifically Canada
~He was looking for a route to the Pacific through North America
~He tried to start a settlement in Quebec but it was later abandoned because of a really cold winter

Sir Francis Drake

Dec 13, 1577

~He sailed to Brazil and Panama
~In North America, he claimed the land he found for the Queen (Nova Albion)
~When he got back to England he got a large sum of money

Sir Walter Raleigh

Jan 1, 1585

~He was a poet, historian, soldier, and explorer
~He led voyages to North and South America, in search of new settlements, gold, and an increase of trade with the new world
~He named the state of Virginia in honor of the Virgin Queen
~He is credited with bringing tobacco and potatoes to the new world
~Raleigh was later executed by King James I

Henry Hudson

Jan 1, 1607

~He explored parts of the Arctic Ocean and Northeastern America
~He failed to find a route to China
~He found the Hudson River and is credited with the discovery of finding New York
~He died in 1611 after his crew mutinied and left Hudson, his son, and 7 of the crew members

Peter Minuit

Jan 1, 1626

~He was the first director general of New Amsterdam
~He is famous for buying the island that is now Manhattan from the Native Americans
~ In 1638 he headed a Swedish group that founded New Sweden
~He bought land from the natives and founded Fort Christina
~He died in a hurricane while on a trading mission in hte West Indies in 1638