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Sep 27, 1418
Prince Henry starts a navigation school
Portuguese royal prince, soldier, and patron of explorers. -
Dec 24, 1469
Vasco da Gama reaches the port of Calicut on the Indian Ocean
Was a Portuguese explorer. -
Oct 12, 1472
Christopher Columbus reaches the Caribbean
Columbus landed in the Bahamas and later explored much of the Caribbean, including the isles of Juana and Espanola, as well as the coasts of Central and South America. -
May 29, 1488
Bartolomeu Dias rounds the southern tip of Africa
A nobleman of the Portuguese royal household, was a Portuguese explorer who sailed around the southernmost tip of Africa in 1488. -
Jan 31, 1492
Spain begins settlements in the Philippines
In 1492, the Spanish monarchs completed the Reconquista with the incorporation of Granada to the Kingdom of Castile -
Jun 7, 1494
Spain and Portugal sign the Treaty of Tordesillas
Divided the newly discovered lands outside Europe between Spain and Portugal along a meridian 370 leagues. -
Mar 16, 1521
Ferdinand Magellan leads a Spanish expedition to the Philippines
On March 16, 1521, Magellan's expedition landed on Homonhon island in the Philippines. He was the first European to reach the islands. -
France sets up its own East India Company
Between 1602 and 1796 the VOC sent almost a million Europeans to work in the Asia trade on 4,785 ships, and netted for their efforts more than 2.5 million tons of Asian trade goods. -
The Dutch establish a trading center on Java
When the States-General of the Netherlands granted it a 21-year monopoly to carry out colonial activities in Asia.
