European Exploration

Henry the Navigator

Mar 22, 1455

He visited the Madeira Islands and the Canary Islands.
By 1462, the Portuguese had explored the coast of Africa as far as the present-day nation Sierra Leone.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_the_Navigator

Bartholomeu Dias

Oct 10, 1486

King John II of Portugal appointed him, to head an expedition to sail around the southern end of Africa in the hope of finding a trade route to India. He was also leading an edition of three ships: São Cristóvão, and São Pantaleão.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bartolomeu_Dias

Christopher Columbus

Aug 3, 1492

On the evening of 3 August 1492, Columbus departed from Palos de la Frontera with three ships. Santa María, Pinta, and Niña.
Land was sighted at 2 a.m. on 12 October 1492, by a sailor named Rodrigo de Triana. Columbus called the island (in what is now The Bahamas) San Salvador.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_columbus

Treaty Of Tordesillas

Jun 7, 1494

The Treaty of Tordesillas was intended to resolve the dispute that had been created following the return of Christopher Columbus. This line of demarcation was about halfway between the Cape Verde Islands (already Portuguese) and the islands discovered by Christopher Columbus on his first voyage.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Tordesillas

Vasco da Gama

Jul 8, 1497

Vasco da Gama led a fleet of four ships with a crew of 170 men from Lisbon. The distance traveled in the journey around Africa to India and back was greater than around the equator. Aproximately 55 returned, and two ships were lost.

Amerigo Vespucci

Aug 23, 1499

About the 1499–1500, Vespucci joined an expedition in the service of Spain, with Alonso de Ojeda (or Hojeda) as the fleet commander. The intention was to sail around the southern end of the African mainland into the Indian Ocean.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amerigo_Vespucci

Pedro Álvares Cabral

May 2, 1500

The fleet resumed its voyage on either 2 or 3 May 1500 and sailed along the east coast of South America. Cabral became convinced that he had found an entire continent, rather than an island.Around 5 May, the fleet veered eastwards towards Africa. 380 men were lost. Final arrangements were put into place for the encounter with the ruler of Calicut.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedro_%C3%81lvares_Cabral

Juan Ponce de León

Mar 4, 1513

Ponce de León equipped three ships with at least 200 men at his own expense and set out from Puerto Rico. The three ships in this small fleet were the Santiago, the San Cristobal and the Santa Maria de la Consolacion. For the next several days the fleet crossed open water until April 2, 1513, when they sighted land which Ponce de León believed was another island. He named it La Florida in recognition of the verdant landscape.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_Ponce_de_Le%C3%B3n

Ferdinand Magellan

Mar 22, 1518

Theking named Magellan and Faleiro captains so that they could travel in search of the Spice Islands in July. He raised them to the rank of Commander of the Order of Santiago. The king granted them:
mnopoly of the discovered route for a period of ten years.
Their appointment as governors of the lands and islands found, with 5% of the resulting net gains.
A fifth of the gains of the travel.
The right to levy one thousand ducats on upcoming trips, paying only 5% on the remainder.
Granting.

Hernán Cortés

Nov 8, 1519

By the time he arrived in Tenochtitlan the Spaniards had a large army, they were peacefully received by the Aztec Emperor Moctezuma II, due to Mexican tradition and diplomatic customs.
Cortès learned that Spaniards on the coast had been attacked, and decided to take Moctezuma as a hostage in his own palace, requesting him to swear allegiance to Charles V.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hern%C3%A1n_Cort%C3%A9s