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Dias becomes the first European mariner to round the tip of Africa.
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Columbus reaches the Americas after persuading Queen Isabella of Spain to finance the expedition.
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Spain and Portugal both feared that the other would claim some of it's newly discovered territories so they signed the Treaty of Tordesillas.
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Cabot claims land in Canada.
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Da Gama, first person to sail directly from Europe to India.
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Cabral becomes the first European to sight what later becomes Brazil.
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A Spanish ship carried the first enslaved Africans directly from West Africa to the Americas.
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Magellan passes through a waterway along the tip of South America and is remembered as the first person to sail completely around the globe.
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Cortez brings back 99 tons of gold from the Aztec Empire which ignited exploration.
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Verrazzano, first European to visit the area that would become New York City.
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Cartier sails and finds the Northwest passage then reaches Canada and starts exploring.
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Drake leads the second expedition to sail around the world.
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The first Dutch fleet arrived in India and shortly after, they formed the Dutch East India Company which slowly pushed the Portuguese out of the spice trade in Southeast Asia.
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English East India Company was formed to participate in the spice trade.
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Hudson reaches Greenland.
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Le Maire and Schouten discovers Staten Island.
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Tasman and his crew become the first Europeans known to reach New Zealand.
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The British have established a number of trading posts in India and their success attracted many rivals.
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Marquette and Joliet begin their exploration of the Mississippi River Valley.
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Salle reaches the mouth of the Mississippi and claims the land for France, naming it Louisiana for King Louis XIV.
