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Age of Exploration

By pandito
  • Vikings colonize Newfoundland in Canada
    1090

    Vikings colonize Newfoundland in Canada

  • Gunpowder comes to Europe
    1267

    Gunpowder comes to Europe

  • 1271

    Marco Polo starts exploring and opens up the silk road to Europe

  • 1298

    Marco Polo stops exploring

  • 1440

    The first printing press is invented by Johannes Gutenberg

    The printing press begins the Renaissance in Europe, resulting in a spread of learning and reading.
  • 1450

    Prince Henry the Navigator sets up navigation schools in Portugal

  • 1453

    Constantinople falls to the Ottoman Empire

    Constantinople falling cuts off Europe from the Silk Road, and leads to the sailors and colonization which are better known for the time.
  • Bartolomeu Dias of Portugal sails to the tip of Africa
    1488

    Bartolomeu Dias of Portugal sails to the tip of Africa

  • Christopher Columbus sails to the Caribbean
    1492

    Christopher Columbus sails to the Caribbean

    Columbus's voyage is often credited with discovering America for Europe, but the Vikings had actually found it 400 years earlier.
  • 1492

    Spanish Reconquista finally ends.

    Spain and Portugal defeat the last Islamic kingdom in Spain, Granada. This enriches and strengthens the Monarchy of Spain, and allows it to fund Christopher Columbus's voyage.
  • 1494

    Treaty of Tordesillas

    This treaty split America between Spain and Portugal.
  • Amerigo Vespucci figures out America is a new continent
    1497

    Amerigo Vespucci figures out America is a new continent

    Fun fact: America is named for Amerigo Vespucci
  • 1498

    Vasco de Gama finds an all water route to India

  • Ferdinand Magellan and his crew circumnavigate the globe.
    1517

    Ferdinand Magellan and his crew circumnavigate the globe.

    Ferdinand Magellan actually died on the way in the Philippines, but one ship and 17 crew members made it.
  • Hernan Cortes conquers the Aztec Empire
    1519

    Hernan Cortes conquers the Aztec Empire

  • 1527

    Panfilo claims Florida for Spain

  • 1532

    Francisco Pizarro conquers the Incan Empire.

  • 1534

    Protestant Reformation

    The Protestant Reformation allowed nations such as England and The Netherlands to colonize America.
  • 1536

    Cabeza de vaca discovers Texas

    If his name shows as "Cow Head" its cause the google translate turns his name in Spanish to his name in English.
  • 1539

    Hernando de Soto sails up the Mississippi river, and claims Louisiana for Spain

  • 1565

    Saint Augustine is founded.

    Saint Augustine is the first European settlement in America

  • Roanoke colony is founded but is unsuccessful.

  • Roanoke 2 is unsuccessful

  • 1607 Jamestown is founded, and is the only somewhat successful English colony for a time.

  • Santa Fe is founded by the Spanish.

  • Plymouth is founded by the Pilgrims.