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Jan 31, 1453
Prince Henry starts a navigation school
These expeditions were sent to create much-needed maps of the West African coast, to defeat the Muslims, to spread Christianity, and to establish trade routes. Prince Henry helped begin the Great Age of Discovery that lasted from the 1400's to the early 1500's -
Jan 31, 1488
Bartolomeu Dias rounds the southern tip of Africa
Atlantic voyage around the southern tip of Africa opened sea routes between Europe and Asia. they command a voyage with both spiritual and material aspirations: Dias was to search for the lands of Prester John a legendary Christian priest and African king. -
Jan 31, 1492
Christopher Columbus reaches the Caribbean
Christopher Columbus landed on a small island he called San Salvador. Columbus believed he had reached the Indies, or the islands southwest of India that include Indonesia and Malaysia. This was on October 12 1492 -
May 4, 1494
Spain and Portugal sign the Treaty of Tordesillas
The Treaty of Tordesillas was agreed upon by the Spanish and the Portuguese to clear up confusion on newly claimed land in the New World. -
Jan 31, 1497
Vasco da Gama reaches the port of Calicut on the Indian Ocean
Vasco da Gama was sent on a mission of vengeance in 1502, he bombarded Calicutt and returned with great spoil. His expedition turned the commerce of Europe from the Mediterranean cities to the Atlantic Coast, and opened up the east to European enterprise. -
Mar 16, 1521
Ferdinand Magellan leads a Spanish expedition to the Philippines
Ferdinand Magellan, a Portuguese in the service of the Spanish crown, was looking for a westward route to the to the Spice Islands of Indonesia. On March 16, 1521, Magellan's expedition landed on Homonhon island in the Philippines. -
Aug 1, 1565
Spain begins settlements in the Philippines
People of Spanish ancestry are a Filipino ethnic group living in the Philippines whose ancestral make up is either fully or partially from Spain. These Filipinos are mostly descendants of the migrants to the Philippines during the colonial period. -
The Dutch establish a trading center on Java
In 1603 the first permanent Dutch trading post in Indonesia was established in Banten, northwest Java and in 1611, another was established at Jayakarta -
France sets up its own East India Company
The Dutch East India Company was a chartered company established in 1602, when the States General of the Netherlands granted it a 21 year monopoly to carry out colonial activities in Asia.
