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Oct 14, 1492
Columbus Arrives in the Bahamas
Columbus arrives in the Bahamas. Europeans are in the Americas to stay. Columbus eventually makes four voyages to the New World, but dies dejected and forgotten in Valladolid, Spain in 1506 -
Apr 7, 1494
Treaty of Todesillas
The Treaty of Tordesillas is signed, dividing newly discovered overseas lands between Portugal and Spain. -
Apr 16, 1501
Encomienda System
The encomienda system begins, granting Indians to Spanish encomenderos as slaves. The Spaniards are tasked with protecting the natives and teaching them Christianity. The system is rife with abuses. -
May 16, 1507
America Named
Geographer Martin Waldseemüler is first to use the name "America" to refer to newly-discovered continents, after Italian merchant, explorer, and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci. Columbus loses out on lucrative naming rights. -
Apr 16, 1513
Balboa Reaches Pacific
Vasco Nuñez de Balboa becomes the first European to gaze upon the Pacific Ocean after cutting his way across the Isthmus of Panama. -
Jul 16, 1513
Ponde de Leon Discovers Florida
Juan Ponce de León discovers Florida -
Mar 7, 1519
Magellan Circumnavigates Globe
Ferdinand Magellan's ships are the first to circumnavigate the globe. Magellan himself is killed by natives in the Pacific -
Nov 8, 1519
Cortes Captures Tenochtitlan
Fall of Tenochtitlan: Hernán Cortés and approximately 100 Spaniards capture the capital of the Aztec Empire. -
Jun 30, 1520
Night of Tears
La Noche Triste: The "Night of Tears" in which almost two thirds of Cortés's men (nearly 800 in total) are killed as they try to escape Tenochtitlan after the death of Moctezuma. -
May 19, 1521
First African Slaves
The Spanish import the first African slaves to the territory that will later become the United States. -
Mar 17, 1531
Virgin of Guadalope
Juan Diego, a Mexican peasant, has an apparition of the Virgin of Guadalupe. Before long, Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe becomes the patron saint of the New World. -
Apr 16, 1550
Indian Rights Debated
Bartholomew de Las Casas and Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda debate the rights of Indians in the New World in Valladolid, Spain.