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1488
Diaz and Africa, 1488
Diaz was a Portuguese explorer who found the southern tip of Africa in 1488. This became a major trading route and helped the Portuguese become the rules of trade in the early age of exploration. -
Oct 12, 1492
Columbus and finding the Americas, 1492
Columbus and his crew land in the Bahamas on a trip from Spain to the East Indies. He then goes from island to island looking for spices and other resources to bring back to Spain and leaves some men in the island of Hispaniola. He is credited with finding the Americas. -
1497
Vasco Da Gama and trade, 1497
Da Gama was the first to successfully use the southern tip of Africa in a trade route to and from India and Portugal. This led Portugal to have faster trade with India and become financially important to Europe. -
Jun 24, 1497
John Cabot, 1497
Made landfall near Newfoundland on June 24, 1497 on an expedition from the English to return with goods to sell in the market. He took possession of the land on the name of King Henry but put both English and Venetian flags from which he was from. -
1500
Discovery of Brazil, 1500
Brazil was discovered in 1500 by Portuguese explorer Pedro Cabral who was on his way to India. The Portuguese used the land to set up a trade system between South America, Portugal, and Africa that used slaves. -
1513
Ponce de León, 1513
Spanish explorer and conquistador Juan Ponce de Leon led the first official European expedition to Florida in 1513. He first came to the Americas as a "gentleman volunteer" with Christopher Columbus's second expedition in 1493. He was authorized to explore the neighboring island of Puerto Rico in 1508 and for serving as the first Governor of Puerto Rico by appointment of the Spanish crown in 1509. -
1521
Cortés and the fall of the Aztec Empire, 1521
Cortés puts the city of Tenochtitlán in a siege for three months and wins, causing the city and the Aztec Empire to fall. He then executes the successor of the throne and becomes the ruler of the Mexican Empire. -
1534
Cartier and Canada, 1534
Cartier explored the Canadian Coast and St. Lawrence river on his first voyage of north America and came back to France. He was then sent back again a second timer where he made French claims and named Canada. -
1534
Pizarro and the Inca, 1534
Spanish explorer Pizarro finds the land of Peru in 1526 on his second voyage to the New World. He returns in 1534 with the King of Spain’s permission and conquers the Inca and executes the Inca King. He claims the land for Spain and forms the city of Lima in Peru -
1570
Sir Francis Drake, 1570s
Drake was one of the very best known explorers during his time, the Elizabethan era. His most famous expedition was one where he circumnavigated the globe, on his way attacking spanish merchant ships, founding the city of New Albion in honor of the queen, and capturing the Spanish city of Valparaiso. After returning from his journey, the Queen herself granted him his knighthood. He later went on to become the Mayor of Plymouth. -
The East India Company, 1600
The East India Company was an english company formed for the exploitation of trade in India and Southeast Asia under English rule. It soon became a method of England ruling the politics in India and exercising control. -
The Dutch East India Company, 1602
The Dutch East India Company was a company formed in the Netherlands to assert dominance in the Indian Ocean for trade and exploration and fight back the Spanish in independence. The Dutch used it as a way to extend their imperialism and empire in the area. -
WIlliam Janszoon and Australia, 1606
Janszoon originally sailed to the Dutch East Indies, from which he was then sent to New Guinea for gold. Instead of landing in New Guinea, he landed in Australia where he battled aborigines. When exploring he reported the land was no good and headed back to the Dutch East Indies. -
Samuel de Champlain, 1608
Champlain founded the city of Quebec in 1608 as a French navigator and explorer. He then found the Champlain lake in 1609 and made more French colonies in the Americas. He also explored New York, the Ottawa River, and the Great Lakes. -
Hudson lands in Nova Scotia, 1609
Hudson landed in Nova Scotia in July of 1609 while working for the Dutch East India Company. He then explores the Hudson River in New York. When returning to the Netherlands, he is stopped in England for working with another country. -
Dirk Hartog, 1616
In October 1616, Dirk Hartog and his crew were the first Europeans to land in Western Australia. Hartog then mapped the coastline of Western Australia which changed mapmakers and cartographers' idea of the hypothetical “terra australis” continent at the time. -
Plymouth, 1620
A group of religious separatists sailed from England to the New World for religious freedom on the Mayflower. They formed the first permanent settlement in New England named Plymouth in Massachusetts and had a system of rules known as the Mayflower Compact. -
Abel Tasman, 1642
Tasman was sent on a mission to explore the waters near the Indian Ocean, Australia, and Dutch East Indies to find a trade route to Chile. On November 24th, he found the island of Tasmania and on December 13th, he found New Zealand. He also found the islands of Mauritius, Fiji, and Tonga. -
James Cook, 1770s
Cook conducted 3 important voyages as a British explorer. His first voyage was charting the coastline of Australia and discovering New Zealand. His second voyage was when he explored the southern Antarctic Sea and discovered New Caledonia and Easter Island. On his third voyage he found Hawaii. -
Alexander Mackenzie, 1789
Mackenzie started off his expedition in 1789 which was the first transcontinental crossing in North America above Mexico. He charted the entire Mackenzie River, to the coast of British Columbia in Western Canada from the Hudson Bay.