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Sep 10, 1420
Prince Henry
Prince Henry the Navigator was a Portuguese royal prince, soldier, and patron of explorers. -
Sep 10, 1450
John Cabot
John Cabot was an Italian born English explorer and navigator.
Giovanni Caboto is his real name. Born in 1450 -
Sep 11, 1451
Christopher Columbus
He was an Italian explorer who sailed across the Atlantic Ocean in 1492, hoping to find a route to India. -
Sep 10, 1472
Francisco Pizarro
He was a Spanish conquistador who traveled through much of the Pacific coast of America along Peru. -
Sep 10, 1492
Christopher Columbus
Columbus sailed for King Ferdinand II and Queen Isabella of Spain. On his first trip Columbus led an expedition with three ships, the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria and had about 90 crew members. They set sail on August 3, 1492 and on October 11, 1492, spotted the Caribbean island. -
Sep 11, 1496
Christopher Columbus
On a second, larger expedition he sailed with 17 ships and 1,200 to 1,500 men to find gold and capture Indians as slaves in the Indies. He spotted and named the island of Dominica on November 3, 1493. -
Sep 11, 1498
Christopher Columbus
On a third expedition he sailed farther south, to Trinidad and Venezuela. Also Columbus was the first European since the Viking Leif Ericsson to set foot on the mainland of America. -
Sep 10, 1499
Amerigo Vespucci
he was an Italian explorer who was the first person to realize that the Americas were separate from the continent of Asia. On his first expedition he was the navigator under under the command of Alonso de Ojeda. On his second expedition he mapped some of the eastern coast of South America, and came to realize that it not part of Asia, but a New World.Born in 1454. -
Sep 10, 1500
Hernando De Soto
He was a Spanish explorer who sailed the Atlantic Ocean and was the first European to explore Florida and the southeastern US. Born in 1500. -
Sep 10, 1513
Vasco nunez de Balboa
He was a Spanish conquistador and explorer. He was the first European to see the eastern part of the Pacific Ocean (in 1513), after crossing the Isthmus of Panama overland. He was looking for treasures and born in 1475. -
Sep 10, 1519
Ferdinand Magellan
He was a Portuguese explorer who led the first expedition that sailed around the Earth (1519-1522). Magellan also named the Pacific Ocean (the name means that it is a calm, peaceful ocean). Born in 1480 -
Sep 10, 1521
Hernan Cortes
Cortes sailed with 11 ships from Cuba to the Yucatan Peninsula to look for gold, silver, and other treasures. He claimed all of Mexico for Spain in 1521. Born in 1485. -
Sep 10, 1524
Giovanni Verrazzano
He was an Italian navigator who, in 1524, explored the northeast coast of North America from Cape Fear, North Carolina to Maine while searching for a Northwest passage to Asia. Verrazzano sailed for King François-premier. Born in 1485. -
Sep 10, 1565
Henry Hudson
He was an English explorer and navigator who explored parts of the Arctic Ocean and northeastern North America. The Hudson River, Hudson Strait, and Hudson Bay are named for Hudson.
borm in 1565 -
Sep 10, 1577
Francis Drake
He was a British explorer, slave-trader, privateer (a pirate working for a government) in the service of England, mayor of Plymouth, England, and naval officer (he was an Admiral). Drake led the second expedition to sail around the world in a voyage lasting from 1577 to 1580 (Magellan led the first voyage around the world). Born in 1545 -
Sep 10, 1580
Peter Minuit
He was the first director general of New Amsterdam, a Dutch colony in America. Minuit was sent to the area by the Dutch West India Company. Minuit is famous for buying the island of Manhattan (in what is now New York, USA) from Native Americans in 1626. He bought the island with trinkets valued at about $24. Born in 1580 -
Walter Raleigh
He was a British explorer, poet, historian, and soldier. Raleigh led expeditions to both North America and South America; he was trying to found new settlements, find gold, and increase trade with the New World. In 1585, Raleigh sent colonists to the east coast of North America; Raleigh later named that area Virginia, in honour of Elizabeth, the Virgin Queen. He is often credited with bringing tobacco and potatoes from the New World. Born in 1554 -
Jacques Marquette
He was a French Jesuit priest and explorer. He sailed to Quebec in 1666 and in 1671 started a Chippewa mission at Chequamegon Bay (at the western end of Lake Superior). Louis Joliet and Father Jacques Marquette (and five others) found the Mississippi River in 1673. Born in 1637. -
James Cook
He was a British explorer and astronomer who went on many expeditions to the Pacific Ocean, Antarctic, Arctic, and around the world. Born in 1728
