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Columbus sailed West and tried and failed to find the Indies. He was the first European to go to America since the Vikings settled in the 10th century.
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Found a trade route by sailing around Africa to India.
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Tried to find Northwest Passage, but found Newfoundland instead
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Explored the Gulf of Mexico and Ameican mainland.
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Juan Ponce de Leon discovered and settled Puerto Rico.
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He sighted the Pacific Ocean and claimed the ocean and all of its shores for Spain, opening the way for later Spanish exploration and conquest along the western coast of South America.
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Magellan sailed around the world.
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He overthrew the Aztec empire and won Mexico for the crown of Spain.
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Spread Christianity and mediated the dispute between Hernán Cortés and Diego Velázquez in Mexico. (Became a judge in Hispaniola (Santo Domingo) in 1502). He was the first European colonizer of what is now South Carolina.
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Landed on the banks of NC and found the Pamlico and Albemorte Sounds.
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Sailed to conquer Florida for the Spanish crown. In 1541, de Soto and his men became the first Europeans to encounter the great Mississippi River and cross it
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Sailed in July 1565. On August 28 he entered and named the bay of St. Augustine and built a fort there. On September 20 he took the nearby French colony of Fort Caroline and massacred the entire population. He then explored the Atlantic coast and established a string of forts as far north as the island of St. Helena (off present-day South Carolina)
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Explored through the Carolinas and Georgia.
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He claimed to have traveled as far north as 48° N (on parallel with Vancouver, Canada) before extreme cold conditions turned him back and anchored near today’s San Francisco and claimed the surrounding land, which he called New Albion, for Queen Elizabeth.
