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In 1000 Leif Eriksson was blown off course by a storm
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discovering the southern tip of Africa, the cape of good Hope.
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Christopher Columbus sailed across the Atlantic ocean in 1942 and reached a continent that was previously unknown to him
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Winning the European race for a sea route to Asia
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sailing for the English
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The ships were commanded by a nobleman, Pedro Álvares Cabral .
Cabral planned to follow da Gama's westward-then southward course. Instead, he went so far west that he reached Brazil. Cabral claimed Brazil for his king and sent one of the ships back to Portugal with the good news that Portugal now had a foothold in the Americas. -
In 1499 Italian Amerigo Vespucci led a voyage funded by Spain. On this and a later journey for Portugal, he explored the coast of South America. Vespucci realized South America was a separate continent, and not part of Asia.
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Juan Ponce de León- 1513 he landed in florida and he was looking for the fountain of youth
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Vasco Núñez de Balboa heard stories of the "great waters" beyond the mountains of Panama, in Central America. He hiked through steamy rain forests to find them. At the coast in 1513, Balboa saw a vast body of water, which he claimed for Spain, along with the adjoining lands.
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in 1519 Hernán Cortés prepared to leave Cuba for Mexico with 11 ships carrying about 550 Spanish soldiers and 16 horses. Before setting off, Cortés said to his men: "I know in my heart that we shall take vast and wealthy lands, people such as have never before been seen.... If you do not abandon me, as I shall not abandon you, I shall make you in a very short time the richest of all men who have crossed the seas."
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Sailing Around the World In 1520 Ferdinand Magellan, a Portuguese explorer who was sailing for Spain, reached the southernmost tip of South America.
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In 1524 France hired another Italian, Giovanni de Verrazano, to look for a northern route. Verrazano explored the coast of North America from present-day Nova Scotia down to the Carolinas.
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In 1531 Francisco Pizarro led an army into the Inca capital in Cuzco, Peru. The Spanish arrested and later executed the Inca ruler. Without their leader, the Inca were not able to fight effectively. Pizarro soon controlled most of the vast and wealthy Inca Empire.
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Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca 1533 he arrived at mexico and told the people about the seven cities of gold.
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In 1535 French explorer Jacques Cartier sailed up the St. Lawrence River, hoping it would lead to the Pacific. Cartier did not make it to the Pacific, but he discovered a mountain peak that he named Mont-Royal, which means "royal mountain.” This is the site of the present-day city of Montreal.
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Francisco Vásquez de Coronado in 1540 he made his way to arizona and new mexico in search of the seven cities of gold.
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The Spanish explorer Juan Cabrillo first sighted what is now California in 1542. However, for 200 years the Spanish had left the area alone.
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Hernando de Soto explored Florida and the southern states of usa in
1540 -
In 1609 Henry Hudson and his crew landed on the shores of Delaware Bay.
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In 1673 Father Jacques Marquette and Louis Joliet located the great Mississippi River. They hoped to find that the river led to the Pacific Ocean.
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In 1682 Robert Cavelier de La Salle followed the Mississippi all the way to the Gulf of Mexico.
