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Aug 3, 1492
Columbus lands in the New World
Columbus set out to find the western route to China, India, and Asia. -
Sep 24, 1503
Potatoes, cacao and sweet potatoes becomes a staple in European food
n 1502 Columbus was aboard the Santa Maria, when he was visited by an Aztec chief bearing gifts. Among the cloth, copper objects and wooden weapons presented to Columbus were cocoa beans, as well as potatoes and sweet potatoes -
Apr 19, 1543
Chili Peppers and cassava are traded with Old World voyagers.
Diego Álvarez Chanca, a physician on Columbus' second voyage 1493, brought the first chili peppers to Spain and first wrote about their medicinal effects. -
Jul 12, 1550
New crops are discovered after landing in the New World
The first crop discovered, pineapple, was introduced by the Natives on Columbus' first trip. -
Maize was introduced to Europeans
Spanish settlers consumed maize and explorers and traders carried it back to Europe and introduced it to other countries. -
Sugarcane
It came from Afro-Eurasia and moved to the Americas. Sugarcane was very hard to grow in the climate of Europe, and so the explorers decided to bring it to the Americas where it flourished. -
Fruits
Voyagers brought Mediterranean plantation crops such as sugar, bananas, and citrus fruits, which all had originated in South or Southeast Asia. At first, many of these crops fared poorly; but eventually they all flourished. -
Potato Famine
Potato famine caused millions of Irish people to migrate west.