Exploration By facebooker_1636436889 Jul 11, 1405 Zheng He leads first exploration Aug 15, 1433 7th and final voyage of Zheng He Oct 12, 1492 Christopher Columbus sights land Jan 15, 1493 Columbus returns to Spain Aug 3, 1493 Christopher Columbus sets sail with the Nina,Pinta, and Santa Maria Sep 24, 1493 Columbus takes second voyage to Americas Feb 15, 1500 Ordri Akvarez Cabral reaches modern day Brazil Apr 2, 1513 Juan Ponce de Leon lands on Florida Apr 22, 1519 Hernando Cortez lands on short of Mexico Oct 3, 1519 Ferdinand Magellan sails around Southern end of South America Aug 13, 1521 Cortez conquers Aztecs Sep 6, 1522 Magellan's crew arrives back in Spain May 4, 1532 Francisco Pizzaro conquers Incas Sep 6, 1550 Spain creates American Empire Sep 18, 1600 Spanish look for more empires to conquer Jul 3, 1608 Samuel de Champlain founds Quebec Dec 10, 1729 James Cook claims New Zealand