Age of Exploration Timeline

By l0gan17
  • Vikings first discover Greenland
    Jan 1, 1000

    Vikings first discover Greenland

    To Europeans, Greenland was unknown until the 10th century, when Icelandic Vikings settled on the southwestern coast. This part of Greenland was apparently unpopulated at the time when the Vikings arrived.
  • Zheng He begins his voyages in China
    Jan 1, 1405

    Zheng He begins his voyages in China

    Zheng He's fleets visited Arabia, Brunei, East Africa, India, Maritime Southeast Asia and Thailand, dispensing and receiving goods along the way. Zheng He presented gifts of gold, silver, porcelain and silk; in return, China received such novelties as ostriches, zebras, camels, ivory and a giraffe.
  • Christopher Columbus discovers the West Indies
    Oct 12, 1492

    Christopher Columbus discovers the West Indies

    Believing he had landed in the Indies near Japan or China, he called the natives "Indians," and the newly discovered land, the "West Indies;" incorrect names that would stick for the next 500 years.
  • Bartholomeu Dias rounds the tip of Africa
    Jan 1, 1497

    Bartholomeu Dias rounds the tip of Africa

    In 1497 Dias accompanied Vasco da Gama on a voyage as far as the Cape Verde Islands.
  • John Cabot discovers Newfoundland
    Jan 1, 1497

    John Cabot discovers Newfoundland

    Another Newfoundlander who supported Bonavista, W. A. Munn, suggested that Mason deliberately placed the Cabot discovery claim over the cape in Latin because he wanted every map-maker in Spain, Portugal, France or Italy to understand the meaning correctly.
  • Vasco da Gama reaches India after rounding Africa
    Jul 8, 1497

    Vasco da Gama reaches India after rounding Africa

    They set sail July 8, 1497, rounded the Cape of Good Hope four months later, and reached Calicut May 20, 1498. The Moors in Calicut instigated the Zamorin of Calicut against him, and he was compelled to return with the bare discovery and the few spices he had bought there at inflated prices.
  • Pedro Alvarez Cabral discovers Brazil
    Apr 22, 1500

    Pedro Alvarez Cabral discovers Brazil

    On April 22, 1500, he sighted land (Brazil), claiming it for Portugal and naming it the "Island of the True Cross."
  • Megellan’s ship the Vittoria completes the first circumnavigation of the globe
    Sep 20, 1519

    Megellan’s ship the Vittoria completes the first circumnavigation of the globe

    Setting sail on September 20, 1519, Magellan began his voyage with a crew of 237 men of doubtful reliability on five tiny ships. After three long months of sea travel, Magellan anchored near present day Rio de Janeiro.