-
In 1341 the Canary Islands, already known to Genoese seafarers, were officially discovered under the patronage of the Portuguese king -
-
Methodical expeditions started in 1419 along West Africa's coast under the sponsorship of prince Henry the Navigator, -
In 1446 Prince Henry formed a fleet of caravels that were to show the Portuguese flag along the African coast and explore the river of Senegal. In 1446 Diniz Diaz reached Cape Verde, which he called by that name from its green appearance -
Columbus stumbled upon the Caribbean islands of the Americas. -
Christopher Columbus sets sail from Spain in search of a western route to Asia, eventually landing in the Americas. -
August 3, 1492, Columbus set sail from Palos, Spain, with three small ships, the Santa Maria, the Pinta and the Nina -
After a month, he discovered a 'new found land', today known as Newfoundland in Canada. -
In 1497 he sailed west from Bristol hoping to find a shorter route to Asia, a land believed to be rich in gold, spices and other luxuries -
Juan Ponce de León was a Spanish explorer. In 1508–09 he explored and settled Puerto Rico, founding the colony's oldest settlement -
In 1534, navigator Jacques Cartier claimed northern North America for France, naming the area around the St. Lawrence River New France -
They were trying to find Asia and then landed in the Caribbean and thought it was a bad thing but figured out they have a lot of gold and silver -
In 1607, 104 English men and boys arrived in North America to start a settlement. On May 13 they picked Jamestown, Virginia for their settlement, which was named after their King, James I -
On July 24, 1701, Antoine de La Mothe Cadillac, accompanied by approximately one hundred fellow Frenchmen and an additional one hundred Algonquian Indians, established Fort Pontchartrain du Detroit on a site that is today in downtown Detroit. -
When the French founded the city of New Orleans in 1718, they did so at a site that had been used for centuries by Native Americans as a gathering place for trading, forming alliances, and hunting -
Starting in the late 17th century, French explorers arrived. Spain took over in 1763 and a trading company led by Pierre Laclede and Auguste Chouteau established the settlement of St. Louis in February 1764