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Christopher Columbus sails west with three ships: Nina, Pinta, and the Santa Maria. His goal was to reach the coast of East Asia, but after his return home, Europeans realized that Columbus had discovered other continents.
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Ferdinand and Isabella appear before Pope Alexander VI to claim their right to the land of the newly discovered world. The Pope then set up the Line of Demarcation to divide the new world. The Spanish had trading and exploration rights west of the line, and Portugal had these rights east of the line.
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In 1494, the Treaty of Tordesillas was signed between Spain and Portugal to agree on the terms of the Line of Demarcation.
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In 1497, Vasco da Gama lead four ships around the Cape of Good Hope, and on to the west coast of India.
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In 1510, the Portugese siezed the Island of Goa, and made it their major military base.
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In 1511, the Portugese took Malacca, an east Indies port, and massacred the Muslims of the city.
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In 1513 Vasco Nunez de Balboa chopped through the Panama rainforest with the help of the Indians. He eventually reached the west coast where he gazed upon the Pacific Ocean.
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On September 20, 1519, Ferdinand Magellan set out with five ships to discover a way to the Pacific Ocean.
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In November of 1520, Magellan found himself amid violent storms at the tip of South America in a passage that would later be named the Strait of Magellan.
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On September 8, 1522, after crossing the Pacific Ocean, Magellan's voyage ends at the Philippines, where Magellan is killed and the remaider of his crew became the first to circumnavigate the world.
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In 1602, the Dutch East India Company was formed by a group of wealthy Dutch merchants. This company started out with an unusual amount of powers including full sovereign powers.
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In 1641, the Dutch captured Malacca from the Portugese and opened trade with China. This allowed them to monitor and control trade in most of Southeast Asia.
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In 1644, armies of Manchus captured Beijing and made it their capital.
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In 1652, Dutch Immigrants arrived at the southern tip of the continent and built Cape Town to supply ships sailing to or from the East Indies.
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In 1736, Chinese Emperor Qianlong begins his reign. (His reign ended in1796)
