Early European Explorers

Prince Henry of Portugal

Jan 1, 1420

Prince Henry of Portugal (planner and analyzer) creates the center for exploration in Sarges as a place to share knowledge; built through wealth

Bartholomeu Dias

Jan 1, 1487

King John sent Bartholomeu Dias (explorer) to explore southernmost part of Africa then go northwest to the Indian Ocean to find a better route to India, but he got caught in a storm along the way; named Cape of Storms, changed to Cape of Good Hope by King; shore hugger

Christopher Colombus

Jan 1, 1492

Christopher Columbus sets out in Atlantic Ocean with 3 ships (Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria given to him by Spain; funded by Spain) to find a sea route to India

Vasco da Gama

Jul 1, 1497

Vasco da Gama sets out with 4 ships in a huge sweep through the Atlantic Ocean around the Cape to successfully get to India

Alvares Cabral

Dec 1, 1497

Alvares Cabral sets out from Portugal with 13 ships with an even wider sweep and ended up finding Brazil, which he claimed for his king and continued towards India

Amerigo Vespucci

Jan 1, 1502

Amerigo Vespucci sailed along South American coast and concluded that it was a continent and to confirm that South America was not part of Asia

Vasco Nunez de Balboa

Jan 1, 1513

Vasco Nunez de Balboa was the first European to see the Pacific Ocean from the Americas

Ferdinand Magellan

Jan 1, 1520

Ferdinand Magellan sailed along the southernmost tip of South America and named the Pacific Ocean (to see waters Balboa talked about)