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Apr 30, 1347
Guns Appear
During 1347 in Europe the first guns of the time started coming from Asia. This technological advancement helped for many things such as hunting and defense. But this was also going to come into effect more than they knew in the future. If they had never been able to obtain this technology they would probably have never been able to defeat the Aztecs, and Incas and conquer the new world. -
Period: Jan 1, 1400 to Dec 31, 1400
Ships Started to Change
Ships of the later 1400sIn the early 1400s most ships still had one rectangular sail set in the middle of the ship. This design slowly started to evolve and change. By the middle of the 15th century most of the ships now had sails on multiple masts. Then by the end of the century even more changes had happend to the sails, this would be that they figured out that if they changed the size of the sails then they could make the ships faster and more efficent. -
May 14, 1406
Long-lost Map Found
In 1406 AD a long-lost map of the world was found. This map was drawn by the geographer Ptolemy. It was found in western Europe, and it was the best map of the world that existed during this time. This map gave the idea to Columbus that it was possible to sail to Asia from Europe if you went west. -
Aug 2, 1418
Navigation School Established
In 1418 AD Prince Henry the Navigator established a school of navigation and a base for exploration. It was set up on Cape St. Vincent in Portugal, and it was the first school of it's kind. It trained people in navigation, map-making and science. Along with a school and base Prince Henry set up an astronomical observatory at Sagres. -
Feb 28, 1420
First Caravel
In the year 1420 the first caravels were built. These ships had been around for a long time but now have started to become faster. This was because of their new design. Many famous explorers such as columbus used these ships on their expeditions. -
Nov 28, 1465
Navigation By The Stars
In 1465 astronomers and navigators greatly improved travel by way of the stars. This technique had been around for many years but was now being improved upon. These improvements made travel by the stars more effective and better. -
Oct 10, 1487
Dias Reaches Cape of Good Hope
On October 10th 1487 the first European landed on the Southern-most tip of Africa. This person was Bartholomeu Dias a Knight of the royal court in Portugal. This expedition opened up new routes for trade. It also set up one of the most important ports for navigation, this was called the Cape of Good Hope. -
Oct 12, 1492
Columbus Reaches the "West Indies"
On October 12th 1492 Christopher Columbus found what he thought were the West Indies. This in fact was not the West Indies but the Americas. This is why the Native Americans are often called Indians. Because Columbus thought he was in India. -
Jun 7, 1494
Treaty of Tordesillas
The Treaty of Tordesillas was signed on June 7th, 1492. The treaty was between Spain and Portugal. This divided the lands of the new world evenly between the two countries. -
Period: Jul 8, 1497 to May 20, 1498
De Gama Reaches India
Vasco de Gama's RouteDuring this time a Portugese explorer by the name of Vasco de Gama set out to find a passage to India. After the "failed" attempts of Columbus de Gama finally found a passage. He rounded the southern tip of Africa and back up the coast and finally crossed the Indian Ocean to get to India. With this the long sought after passage to India was found. -
Nov 24, 1499
Vespucci Finds New World
In 1499 Amerigo Vespucci explored the coast of South America. He origanally from the information that Columbus collected before him, thought he was going to be in India. Instead he decided that this land he was exploring was not India but a new world. This is where the name America came from. -
Jan 20, 1504
Columbus Scares Natives
On the last of Columbus' voyages Columbus played a trick on the Natives. He used an astronomy book to predict the eclipse of the moon and told the natives when it was going to happen. The Natives listened to this and were amazed when it became true. This story in it self is not as important as the idea. In this time of exploration explorers used the fact that the natives had not seen much of the things they had and many of these things scared them. -
Sep 26, 1513
Balboa Sees Pacific
On September 26th 1513 after traveling through the Panama jungle for about a month Vasco Nunez de Balboa became the first European to see the Pacific Ocean. Balboa had heard about this great body of water from one of his native friends and after hearing about it he had to see it. So on September 1st he left his colony at Enciso and set out to find this body of water. This information opend up to the the explorer's eyes that they had yet to explore the entire world. -
Feb 12, 1514
Smallpox
In 1514 a crew member on one of the European ships that was headed to the Americas was sick. He had a case of smallpox. This disease acts much like the flu but can be much more deadly to those who are not immune to it. When this ship landed in South America and they brought the sick man on land to get medical attention the diease quickly spread and infected the native peoples there. Because these people were not immuneto it unlike like most of the Europeans were they contracted it and many died. -
Sep 8, 1522
First Circumnavigation
On September 8th 1522 the first circumnavigation of the earth was complete. It was compleated by the one remaining ship of Magellan's fleet. This finally, one hundred percent proved that the world was round. Even though Magellan had died almost a year before this date he is still thought to be the first person to circumnaviagte the earth. -
Erika Wandel Makes Exploration Timeline
The reason that I used these events as the most important events of exploration was because they were either milestones or things that helped get to milestones. Because you can not just expect to in one trip explore explore and conquer the entire world. For example if Magellen had never sailed around the world we may still think it was flat, if Columbus had never sailed to the Americas we might have still been living in Europe, or even now we may have never had the courage to go to the moon.
