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Jan 1, 1405
Admiral Zheng He begins his Voyage
Admiral Zheng He begins his voyages for Emperor Zhu Di. The Treasure Fleet of the Dragon Throne rules the South Pacific and Indian Ocean until 1433. -
Jan 1, 1406
Ptolemy's geography is introduced in Europe.
Europe adapts Ptolemy's geography -
Jan 1, 1432
Portuguese navigators discover the Azores.
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Jan 1, 1441
Portuguese navigators cruise West Africa and reestablish slave trade.
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Jan 1, 1450
Prince Henry the Navigator establishes a naval observatory for the teaching of navigation, astronomy, and cartography.
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Jan 1, 1450
Invention of the printing press spurs wide distribution of navigation tables and ship plans. Ptolemy's geography is published and widely accepted.
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Jan 1, 1453
Turks overrun Constantinople, shutting off the overland trade route.
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Jan 1, 1470
Portuguese explorations discover Africa's Gold Coast and the Congo River.
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Jan 1, 1487
Bartolomeu Dias barely touches the Cape of Good Hope.
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Jan 1, 1492
Christopher Columbus sets sail.
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Jan 1, 1494
The Treaty of Tordesillas divides the world between Spain and Portugal for the alleged purpose of spreading Christianity.
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Jan 1, 1497
Vasco da Gama rounds the Cape of Good Hope and reaches India
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Jan 1, 1497
John Cabot sites "new found land" while searching for Northwest Passage.
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Jan 1, 1504
Venice proposes a Suez Canal to the Sultan of Turkey.
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Jan 1, 1504
Columbus dies
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Jan 1, 1511
Portugal defeats the Arabs in a major naval battle at the Straits of Sunda, taking control of the Spice Islands as the center of Far East trade. (The Straits lie between Java and Borneo, now Indonesia.)
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Jan 1, 1512
England begins construction of double-deck warships.
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Jan 1, 1519
Magellan begins his journey to circumnavigate the world with five ships and 270 men.
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Apr 11, 1521
April 27, Magellan killed by natives in the Philippines
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Sep 6, 1522
September 6, eighteen of Magellan's crew and one ship return.
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Jan 1, 1534
Jacques Cartier enters the St. Lawrence River. Land in Great Lakes claimed for France
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Jan 1, 1577
Sir Francis Drake sets sail from England. He circumnavigates the globe
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Henry Hudson explores present-day New York and Hudson River and claims them for the Dutch
This is when the Hudson River got claimed for the dutch by Henry Hudson -
James Cook begins the first of his Pacific explorations
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Cook documents location of Australia
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Cook explores Hawaiian Islands. He fails to locate Northwest Passage from Alaskan side
Cook searches the Hawiian lands in search of the Northwest Pass. -
Cook killed in Hawaii
