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1001
Leif Erikson
Leif Erikson discovered both Greenland and North America. He also went to Norway and became a christian there, -
1419
Prince Henry the Navigator (Prince of Portugal)
He sponsored a great deal of exploration along the west coast of Africa from 1419 to 1460. Portuguese crews founded the country's first colonies and visited regions previously unknown to Europeans -
1488
Bartolomeu Dias (King John II of Portugal)
Bartolomeu Dias discovered the Cape of Good Hope in 1488. This showed that there was a better route to India. -
1492
Columbus (King Ferdinand and Queen Elizabeth of Spain)
Columbus landed in the Bahamas, an island next to North and South America. -
1497
Vasco da gama (King Manuel I of Portuguese)
He was the first European to reach India by sea. He also connected the Atlantic and Indian oceans. -
1497
John Cabot (England)
John Cabot took a voyage to North America, where he claimed land in Canada for England. -
1499
Amerigo Vespucci
Vespucci sailed to the northern part of South America and into the Amazon River. He thought he was in Asia though. -
1509
Francisco Pizzaro
On November 10, 1509, Pizzaro sailed from Spain to the New World with Alonso de Ojeda on an expedition to Uraba. He sailed to Cartagena and joined the fleet of Martín Fernández de Enciso and, in 1513, accompanied Balboa in his crossing of the Isthmus of Panama to the Pacific. -
1513
Juan Ponce de Leon
He led a European expedition for gold, which eventually brought him to the southeast coast of what would become the United States. He gave Florida its name and went on to become the first governor of Puerto Rico. -
1513
Vasco Nunez de Balbo (wanted to win the favor of King Ferdinand)
Balboa led an expedition to search for a new sea reportedly to the south and for gold. He didn't find the precious metal, he did see the Pacific Ocean and claimed it and all of its shores for Spain. -
1518
Hernan Cortes
Hernan Cortes was a Spanish conquistador and explorer who defeated the Aztecs and claimed Mexico for Spain. He first set sail to the New World at the age of 19. Cortes later joined an expedition to Cuba. In 1518, he set off to explore Mexico. -
1519
Ferdinand Magellan
Magellan wanted to find a western sea route to the rich Spice Islands of Indonesia. Sailed to West Africa and then to Brazil, where he searched the South American coast for a strait that would take him to the Pacific. -
1528
Alavr Nunez Cabeza de Vaca (Panfilo de Narváez)
He was treasurer to the Spanish expedition under Pánfilo de Narváez that reached present-day Tampa Bay, Florida, in 1528. -
1534
Jacques Cartier (France)
First European to travel inland in North America and claimed what is now known as Canada for France. -
1535
Francisco Vasquez de Coronado
Francisco went to New Spain (Mexico) with Antonio de Mendoza, the Spanish viceroy, in 1535 and earned early distinction in pacifying Indians. He was appointed governor of Nueva Galicia in 1538. -
1538
Hernando de Soto
Hernando de Soto embarked on a major expedition in 1538 to conquer Florida for the Spanish crown. He traveled nearly 4,000 miles throughout the region that would become the southeastern United States in search of riches, while also fighting off Native American attacks along the way. -
1542
Jaun Cabrillo
Cabrillo led the first European expedition that explored what is now the west coast of the United States. Cabrillo departed from the port of Navidad, Mexico. Three months later he arrived at San Diego Bay. -
Samuel de Champlain
Known as the “Father of New France,” Samuel de Champlain played a major role in establishing New France. He is also credited with founding Quebec City in 1608. He explored the Atlantic coastline, the Canadian interior, and the Great Lakes region. -
Henry Hudson 1 (Dutch)
Henry Hudson made his first voyage west from England, when he was hired to find a shorter route to Asia from Europe through the Arctic Ocean. -
Henry Hudson 2 (Dutch)
Hudson sailed again to find the Northeast Passage, a route to East Asia over the top of Russia. Hudson and his crew of 14 were unable to progress beyond Novaya Zemlya, an archipelago in the Arctic Ocean. -
Rene-Robert De La Salle
He was a French explorer. He was sent by King Louis XIV (14) to travel south from Canada and sail down the Mississippi River to the Gulf of Mexico. He was the first European to travel the length of the Mississippi River.
