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Leif Erikson sailed to Greenland to investigate reports of a land farther west. They explored the region and spent the winter in a place they named Vinland.
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Christopher Colombus sailed west with 90 men and 3 ships on small ships name Nina, Pinta, And Santa Maria. They averaged around 170 miles per day.
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In 1493 after his first voyage to what he thought was Asia, he returned to Spain. He reported that there were huge amounts of gold in the land he referred to as the West Indies. The grateful monarchs made him governor of all the land he claimed for Spain.
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In 1493, Columbus sailed west to the West Indies for the second time. This time he had seventeen ships and fifteen hundred soldiers, settlers, and priests.
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In 1497, John Cabot sails to North America to and finds Newfoundland.
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in this year, Columbus took a third voyage to continue his search for the Asia mainland. He reached the northern coast of South America and believed it was the Asia mainland.
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On his second voyage, Cabot sails to North America to explore the coast. He may have gone as far south as the Chesapeake Bay. However, we cannot be sure. His ships disappeared without a trace.
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In 1502, Spain permitted him to try and prove his claims that he had reached Asia. He returned two years later with his beliefs unchanged. He later died in 1506, still convinced he had reached Asia.
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Balboa, a spanish colonist, explored the Carribean coast of what is now Panama. He was also the first European to set eyes on the Pacific Ocean
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Juan Ponce de Leon sailed north from Puerto Rico to investigaet reports of a large island. What he actually found is what is now the state of Florida.
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Ferdinand Magellan set out to find an Atlantic - Pacific passage. For more than a year, his small fleet moved slowly down the South American Coast looking for a strait. Finally, he found one near the southern tip of present day Argentina. this strait is now known as the Strait of Magellan.
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In this year, Hernando cortes sailed from Cuba to Mexico with more than 500 soldiers. He and his men marched into the Aztec capitol, joined by other Native Americans, and conquered the Aztecs.
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Magellan finally reached the Phillipine Islands. There, he and several others were killed in a battle with the Filipinos. The survivors fled in two of the ships. One ship finally reached Spain, in September 1522. Three years after they had begun, the eighteen men aboard became the first to circumnavigate the entire Earth.
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After being found by Ponce de Leon, exploration begins off the coast of Florida.
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Pizarro makes landfall in Peru in search of the Inca empire.
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In 1532 Pizarro led 170 soldiers into the capitol of the empire, took their ruler hostage, and then killed him.
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In this year, the Pizarro defeats the leaderless Incas.
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This is the beginning of the colonies. 2 colonies are set up on a small island off the coast, of what is today North Carolina.
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The first colony in at Roanoke Island was established, but later abandoned.
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This colony is a great mystery in American History. It was established in1587. The next year, England found itself at war with Spain and they weren't able to visit the colony until 1590. By then, the colony was abandoned. It had disappeared without a trace.
