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Prince Henry the Navigator commission a journey around Africa's “Cape of Good Hope” to Asia. Multiple attempts later they make it to India and estiblesh a series of trading posts and forts.
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Portugal captures Ceuta in North Africa, marking the start of Portuguese exploration.
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Portuguese explorers discover Madeira and the Azores.
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Gil Eanes rounds Cape Bojador, proving further exploration of Africa is possible.
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Bartolomeu Dias rounds the Cape of Good Hope, opening the route to the Indian Ocean.
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Bartolomeu Dias rounds the Cape of Good Hope, opening the route to the Indian Ocean.
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Christopher Columbus was searching for East Indies , discovered the Caribbean instead, but still thought it was Asia. He began to send voyages regularly, to acquire gold and silver to stimulate the Spanish economy
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Treaty of Tordesillas divides new lands between Spain and Portugal.
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John Cabot found present-day Canada and New England. Eventually established colonies in eastern North America (Roanoke, Jamestown, etc.)
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France founded the cities of Detroit, St. Louis, and New Orleans, claimed most of present-day Canada, and explored North America at great length (Ohio, Mississippi River, Rocky Mountains, etc.)
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Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo explores the coast of California.
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Dutch explorer Willem Janszoon becomes the first European to reach Australia.
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English settlers establish Jamestown, the first permanent English colony in North America.
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Henry Hudson explores Hudson Bay in search of the Northwest Passage.
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Abel Tasman discovers Tasmania, New Zealand, and Fiji.