-
Giovanni da Verrazzano was born in 1485 in Tuscany, Italy.
-
In 1523 he secured two ships for a voyage backed by the French king to discover a westward passage to Asia
-
In January 1524 he sailed one of those vessels, La Dauphine, to the New World and reached Cape Fear about the beginning of March. Verrazzano then sailed northward, exploring the eastern coast of North America. He made several discoveries on the voyage, including the sites of present-day New York Harbor, Block Island, and Narragansett Bay, and was the first European explorer to name newly discovered North American sites after persons and places in the Old World.
-
Verrazzano undertook two more voyages to the Americas. In 1527 he commanded a fleet of ships on an expedition to Brazil that returned profitable dyewood to France.
-
Died in 1528 (aged 43) Lesser Antilles, West Indies -
His final voyage began in the spring of 1528, when he sailed with his brother, Girolamo, from Dieppe with two or three ships. The fleet sailed to Florida, the Bahamas, and finally the Lesser Antilles. He anchored there off one of the islands (apparently Guadeloupe), went ashore, and was captured, killed, and eaten by cannibals.
