-
Jan 30, 1418
Prince Henry's School for Sailors
Prince Henry started them first school for oceanic navigation with a astronomical observatory at Sarges, Portugal. In this school, people were trained in navigation, map-making, and science, in order to sail down the west of Africa. -
Jan 27, 1453
Turkish empire cuts off land route from Asia to Europe
In 1453 the Ottoman Empire gained control of the Black Sea and the main routes to the Balkans -
Jan 30, 1488
Bartolomeu Dias
Portuguese explorer that sailed around the southernmost tip of Africa in 1488, reaching the Indian Ocean from the Atlantic, the first European to do it. -
Jan 30, 1493
Christopher Columbus
The explorer Christopher Columbus made four trips across the Atlantic Ocean from Spain: in 1492, 1493, 1498 and 1502.He was sent to find a direct water route west from Europe to Asia, but he never did. He accidentally stumbled upon the Americas. -
Jan 30, 1497
John Cabot
Explorer and navigator John Cabot made a voyage in 1497 for King Henry VII of England, on the ship Matthew. He claimed land in Canada, mistaking it for Asia. -
Jan 30, 1507
Amerigo Vespucci
Explorer Amerigo Vespucci was born March 9, 1451. On his third and most successful voyage, he discovered present-day Rio de Janeiro. Thinking he had discovered a new continent, he called South America the New World. -
Jan 31, 1509
Francisco Pizzaro
Francisco Pizzaro was a Spanish conquistador who led an expedition that conquered the Inca Empire. He captured and killed Incan emperor Atahualpa and claimed the lands for Spain. -
Jan 31, 1513
Vasco nunez de balboa
Born in Spain in 1475, explorer and conquistador Vasco Núñez de Balboa helped establish the town of Darién on the Isthmus of Panama. In 1513, Balboa led an expedition from Darién to search for a new sea reportedly to the south and for gold. -
Jan 31, 1513
Juan Ponce de León
Juan Ponce de León was a Spanish explorer and conquistador. He became the first Governor of Puerto Rico by appointment of the Spanish crown. In 1513 He led the first known European expedition to La Florida, which he named during his first voyage to the area. -
Jan 31, 1520
Ferdinand Magellan
Ferdinand Magellan was a Portuguese explorer who organised the Spanish expedition to the East Indies from 1519 to 1522, resulting in the first circumnavigation of the Earth. -
Jan 31, 1521
Hernandez Cortez
Hernandez Cortez was a Spanish Conquistador who led an expedition that caused the fall of the Aztec Empire and brought large portions of mainland Mexico under the rule of the King of Castile in the early 16th century. -
Jan 31, 1524
Hernado de Soto
Hernado de Soto led the first European expedition deep into the territory of the modern-day United States such as Florida, Georgia, Alabama, and Arkansas. He also was the first documented European to have crossed the Mississippi River. -
Jan 31, 1534
Jacques Cartier
Jacques Cartier was a French explorer who claimed what is now Canada for France. Cartier was the first European to describe and map the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and the shores of the Saint Lawrence River. -
Jan 31, 1540
Francisco Coronado
Coronado led a major Spanish expedition up Mexico’s western coast and into the region that is now the southwestern United States. He also discover the Grand Canyon and other major physical landmarks of the region. -
Jan 31, 1577
Sir Francis Drake
Francis Drake circumnavigated the globe from 1577-1580, helped defeat the Spanish Armada of 1588. He was the most renowned seaman of the Elizabeth era. -
Jacques Marquette
Jacques Marquette is best known as the first European to see and map the northern portion of the Mississippi River. -
Louis Jolliet
Louis Joliet was a 17th century Canadian explorer who explored the origins of the Mississippi River. Joliet embarked on a privately-sponsored expedition with Jacques Marquette to be among the first Europeans to explore what was called by Native Americans the "Mesipi" river.
