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May 20, 1418
Prince Henry starts a navigation school
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May 20, 1488
Christopher Columbus reaches the Caribbean
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May 20, 1488
• Bartolomeu Dias rounds the southern tip of Africa
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May 20, 1497
Vasco da Gama reaches the port of Calicut on the Indian Ocean
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May 20, 1498
• Spain and Portugal sign the Treaty of Tordesillas
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May 20, 1521
Ferdinand Magellan leads a Spanish expedition to the Philippines
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May 20, 1565
Spain begins settlements in the Philippines
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• The Dutch establish a trading center on Java
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France sets up its own East India Company