early explorers

  • Leif Erickson
    1000

    Leif Erickson

    Leif Erickson was a viking explorer born somewhere between the 970s and the 980s in Iceland he was the second of three sons and a sister. Now for discovering and colonizing Greenland, Leif Erickson sailed to Norway around the year 1000
  • Prince Henry the Navigator
    1418

    Prince Henry the Navigator

    Henry the Navigator was born in 1394 in Porto, Portugal. He was the third surviving son of King John I and Philippa of Lancaster. In 1415, Henry, his father and his older brothers led an attack on Ceuta. The attack succeeded, and Ceuta fell under Portuguese control.
  • Bartolomeu Dias
    1488

    Bartolomeu Dias

    Bartolomeu Dias was the first European explorer to sail around the southern tip of Africa.This discovery made it possible for Europeans to trade with Asia and India by water instead of across land, which was very expensive at the time.
  • Christopher Columbus
    Aug 3, 1492

    Christopher Columbus

    The explorer Christopher Columbus made four trips across the Atlantic Ocean from Spain. He was determined to find a direct water route west from Europe to Asia, but he never did. Instead, he stumbled upon the Americas.
  • John Cabot
    1497

    John Cabot

    Italian sailor John Cabot, sailing for the English, searched for a passage to Pacific Ocean along the coast off Canada and Newfoundland. This became the basis of England’s claim to North America.
  • Amerigo Vespucci
    1502

    Amerigo Vespucci

    Amerigo Vespucci was the first person to determine that the New World was a new continent and not the West Indies. Amerigo Vespucci named a few constellations on a voyage back from the New World in 1502. He named the Southern Cross, among others.
  • Vasco Nunez de Balbo
    1513

    Vasco Nunez de Balbo

    He is best known for having crossed the Isthmus of Panama to the Pacific Ocean in 1513, becoming the first European to lead an expedition to have seen or reached the Pacific from the New World. He traveled to the New World in 1500 and, after some exploration.
  • Juan Ponce De Leon
    Apr 5, 1513

    Juan Ponce De Leon

    explored present day Florida in 1513, looking for the fountain of youth
  • francisco Pizarro
    Jun 26, 1513

    francisco Pizarro

    second son. explored the Andes Mountains of South America and conquered the Inca Empire. Both were skilled soldiers but were also helped in their victories by the spread of disease.
  • Ferdinand Magellan
    1519

    Ferdinand Magellan

    The ship that Magellan commanded was the Trinidad. The total distance traveled by the Victoria was over 42,000 miles. Magellan's knee was wounded in battle, causing him to walk with a limp. Many of the sailors were Spanish and did not trust Magellan because he was Portuguese.
  • hernando cortes
    Feb 18, 1519

    hernando cortes

    bit of a jerk, explored mexico in 1519. had 11 ships, 508 soldiers, about 100 sailors, and—most important—16 horses. conquered the Aztec
  • Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca
    1527

    Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca

    a Spanish explorer who sailed to North America from Spain, leaving in 1527. The expedition of 250 to 300 men was led by Panfilo de Narvaez.
  • Jacques Cartier
    1534

    Jacques Cartier

    Frenchman Jaques Cartier sailed down the Saint Lawrence river all the way to Present-day Montreal, claiming lands for France.
  • hernando de soto
    May 21, 1539

    hernando de soto

    explored Florida and North Carolina in 1539
  • Jaun Cabrillo
    1542

    Jaun Cabrillo

    Believed to have been of Portuguese descent, Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo was a soldier and explorer in service to Spain. He is best known for his explorations of the coast of California.
  • Francisco Vazquez de Coronado
    Sep 22, 1554

    Francisco Vazquez de Coronado

    was a Spanish conquistador and explorer who led a large expedition from Mexico to present-day Kansas through parts of the southwestern United States between 1540 and 1542.
  • Samuel de Champlain

    Samuel de Champlain

    he was key to France expansion in the new world. Known as the " Father of New France". One of the oldest cities is now Canada, and combined France colonies.He also made important explorations of what is now northern New York, the Ottawa River, and the eastern Great Lakes.
  • Henry Hudson

    Henry Hudson

    The English Captain Henry Hudson led a Dutch exploration to present-day New York in 1609.Believed to have been born in the late 16th century, English explorer Henry Hudson made two unsuccessful sailing voyages in search of an ice-free passage to Asia.
  • Henry Hudson

    Henry Hudson

    He also sailed farther north than any explorer before him. Henry Hudson returned to North America for a fourth expedition
  • Rene-Robert De La Salle

    Rene-Robert De La Salle

    he was the first European to travel the length of Mississippi River, his goal was to explore and establish fur-trade routes along the river. He named the Mississippi basin Louisiana, in honor of the king at the time, and claimed it for France.