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Jan 1, 1394
Prince Henry the Navigator
Date: 1394-1460
Title: Prince Henry the Navigator
Description: Henry sent many sailing expeditions down Africa's west coast, but did not go on them himself. Thanks to Prince Henry's patronage, Portuguese ships sailed to the Madeira Islands rounded Cape Bojador sailed to Cape Blanc sailed around Cap Vert and went as far as the Gambia River and Cape Palmas. He sent these ships to create maps of the West African coast, to defeat the Muslims, to spread Christianity and to establish trade routes. -
Jan 1, 1450
John Cabot
Date: 1450-1499
Title: John Cabot
Description: Cabot sailed to Canada in 1497,commanding the small ship called "Matthew." Cabot landed near Labrador, Newfoundland, or Cape Breton Island on June 24, 1497. One of John Cabot's three sons, the explorer Sebastian Cabot, accompanied him on this trip. Cabot claimed the land for England. Cabot explored the Canadian coastline and named many of its islands and capes. The mission's purpose was to search for a Northwest passageway. -
Jan 1, 1460
Vasco da Gama
Date: 1460-1524
Title: Vasco Da Gama
Description: discovered an ocean route from Portugal to the East. Vasco da Gama sailed from Lisbon, Portugal, on July 8, 1497, heading to the East. At the time, many people thought that da Gama's trip would be impossible because it was assumed that the Indian Ocean was not connected to any other seas. -
Jan 1, 1460
Ponce de Leon
Date: 1460?-1521
Title: Pronce de Leon
Description: Spanish explorer and soldier who was the first European to set foot in Florida. He also established the oldest European settlement in Puerto Rico and discovered the Gulf Stream (a current in the Atlantic Ocean). Ponce de Leon was searching for the legendary fountain of youth and other riches. -
Jan 1, 1480
Magellan
Date: 1480-1521
Title: Magellan
Description: Led the first expedition that sailed around the Earth. Magellan also named the Pacific Ocean (the name means that it is a calm, peaceful ocean). Magellan sailed to India and to the Far East many times via Africa's Cape of Good Hope. He sailed for his native Portugal, but a dispute with the Portuguese King Manoel II turned him against the Portuguese. Thereafter, he sailed for Spain. -
Jan 1, 1487
Bartolomeu Dias
Date: 1487-1488
Title: Bartolomeu Dias
Description: Dias' ships rounded the perilous Cape of Good Hope and then sailed around Africa's southernmost point, Cabo das Agulhas, to enter the waters of the Indian Ocean. Bartolomeu was searching for the lands of Prester John a legendary Christian priest and African king and challenge the Muslim dominance of trade with Asia. -
Jan 1, 1491
Jacques Cartier
Date: 1491-1557
Title: Jacques Cartier
Description: In 1534, France's King Francis I authorized the navigator Jacques Cartier (1491-1557) to lead a voyage to the New World in order to seek gold and other riches, as well as a new route to Asia. Cartier's three expeditions along the St. Lawrence River would later enable France to lay claim to the lands that would become Canada. -
Jan 1, 1492
Christopher Columbus
Date: 1451-1506
Title: Christopher Columbus
Description: Columbus believed that the world was smaller than it really is. By sailing west, he could reach the wealth of the Indies, the name that Europeans gave to the areas of Japan, China, Indonesia and India, and save much time and danger compared to the overland routes. -
Jun 7, 1494
The Treaty of Tordesillas
Date: 1494
Title: The Treaty of Tordesillas
Description: The Treaty of Tordesillas was agreed upon by the Spanish and the Portuguese to clear up confusion on newly claimed land in the New World -
Jan 1, 1507
Amerigo Vespucci
Date: 1507
Title: Amerigo Vespucci
Description:took part in early voyages to the New World on behalf of Spain around the late 15th century. By that time, the Vikings had established settlements in present-day North America as early as 1,000 A.D. and Christopher Columbus had already "discovered" several Caribbean and Central American islands, yet it's Vespucci's name that prevailed. -
Jan 1, 1545
Sir Francis Drake
Date: 1545-1596
Title: Sir Francis Drake
Description: British explorer, slave-trader, privateer (a pirate working for a government) in the service of England, mayor of Plymouth, England, and naval officer (he was an Admiral). He led the second expodition to sail around the world. -
Sir Walter Raleigh
Date: 1584 and 1589
Title: Sir Walter Raleigh
Description: In 1587 he explored from North Carolina to present-day Florida, naming the region Virginia in honor of Elizabeth, the "Virgin Queen." In 1587 Raleigh sent an ill-fated second expedition of colonists to Roanoke. In 1588 he took part in the victory over the Spanish Armada. -
Henry Hudson
Date: 1565-1611
Title: Henry Hudson
Description: English explorer and navigator who explored parts of the Arctic Ocean and northeastern North America. The Hudson River, Hudson Strait, and Hudson Bay are named for Hudson. -
Jacques Marquette
Date: 1672
Title: Jacques Marquette
Description: Jacques Marquette and fur trader Louis Joliet were sent by Governor Frontenac of New France to look for a route to the Pacific Ocean. The Governor had been hearing tales of a mighty river to the south, and it was this river that Marquette and Joliet were being sent to find. -
James Cook
Date: October 27, 1728 - February 14, 1779
Title: James Cooke
Description: British explorer and astronomer who went on many expeditions to the Pacific Ocean, the Antarctic, the Arctic, and around the world.
