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Prince Henry led a military force for Portugal that captured the Muslim outpost of Ceuta.
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The Portuguese sailed out of sight of land which was newer to them, and the discovered the Madeira Islands.
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Also discovered by the Portuguese after finding the Madeira Islands a few years earlier.
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Bartolomew Dias discovered the Cape of Good Hope at the southern tip of Africa. Portugal had found a sea route to India.
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Christopher Columbus led a voyage out to find a faster trade route to Asia by sailing west, but instead they reached the Americas. Landed in the Bahamas, then continued to discover other places such as Cuba and other islands in the West Indies.
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On the second voyage they found so many new islands, they became known as the Virgin Islands. They also found Puerto Rico.
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Vasco de Gama sailed around the Cape of Good Hope to India. They reached Calicut.
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On their third voyage they rached the coast of South America. At the end of the voyage Colum,bus and his brothers were arrested and taken back to Spain in chains.
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Amerigo sailed from Spain and got to Brazil in June. He explored all along the coast of South America.
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Balboa sailed with Rodrigo de Bastidas to Colombia, South America
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Balboa founded a colony in South America, the first for the Europeans. It was the town of Santa Maria de la Antigua del Darien
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Vasco Nunez de Balboa was the first European to see the eastern part of the Pacific Ocean, rossing through the Isthmus of Panama.
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Cordoba and his men reach the Yucatan peninsula. He reported all the wealth and treasures there in an Indian empire.
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Hernando Cortez wanted to lead an expedition in Mexico which was ruled by the Aztec Empire. The Aztecs were good to Cortez, but his men took Montezuma captive, eventually killing him. They finally defeated the Aztecs and took over Tenochtitlan.
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Ferdinand Magellan and his crew discovered the Straits of Magellan and reached the Pacific Ocean. This was the first voyage to circumnavigate the world.
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Cortez explored the northwestern part of Mexico, discovering the Baja California peninsula.