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Period: to
Voyages and Exploration Timeline
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Cumberland Sound explored
English navigator John Davis explored Cumberland Sound and the western shore of Greenland; it was blocked by ice but he was very optimistic -
Dutch search for passage
Dutch navigator William Barents made 3 expeditions between 1594 and 1597 to search for passage to Cathay -
Ostrog of Mangazeya established
Prince Miron Shakhovskoi and D. Khripunov descend the Ob to the Ob Estuary and ascend the Taz River, establishing the Ostrog of Mangazeya -
East India Company founded
Hoping to exploit trade in East and Southeast Asia and India, a group of English merchants form the East India Company by royal charter -
Ice blocks passage
English navigator Henry Hudson (employed by the Dutch) discovered between 1605 and 1607 that ice blocked the way both east and west of Svalbard -
Janszoon discovers Australia
Dutch navigator Willem Janszoon discovers Australia at the mouth of the Pennefather River on the western coast of the Cape York Peninsula, exploring its coast from Badu Island south to Cape Keerweer -
Hudson and Greenland
English sea explorer Henry Hudson coasts the east coast of Greenland, naming "Hold-with-Hope" -
Quebec founded
Samuel de Champlain (French) mapped the St. Lawrence River in modern day Canada and founded Quebec in 1608 -
Hudson sails Hudson River
Hudson sails the Halve Maen up the Hudson River as fall north as present day Albany, New York -
Hudson Straight to Hudson Bay
Henry Hudson sailed through the Hudson Straight to Hudson Bay and was confident that success was at hand before he was set adrift by a mutinous crew -
Brule in Lake Huron
European explorer Étienne Brûlé ascends the Ottawa River and reaches Lake Nipissing and Georgian Bay in Lake Huron -
Button explores western Hudson Bay
Welsh officer of the Royal Navy ( and explorer) Thomas Button is the first to explore the western shores of Hudson Bay; also discovers Coats and Southampton Islands -
Brule in southern half of North America
Étienne Brûlé sights the western shore of Lake Ontario and descends the Niagara River. Also explores what are now parts of modern New York and Pennsylvania, and descends the Susquehanna River to Chesapeake Bay -
Dutch mariners discover New York area
Dutch mariners Jacob Le Maire and Willem Schouten discover and name Le Maire Strait, Staten Island, and Cape Horn -
Blue Nile discovered
Spanish priest Paez discovered the Blue Nile -
Land discovered near Cape Leeuwin
The Dutch ship Leeuwin discovers land near present-day Cape Leeuwin