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Led by Prince Henry the Navigator, Portuguese merchants made their way down the West African coast in order to spur trade with African nations and to carve new routes to the East Indies.
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Shortly after the first Portuguese incursions into Africa, European nations began the enslavement of Africans.
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The Ottomans, led by Mehmed II, layed siege to the city of Constantinople and won it, effectively ending the Byzantine Empire.
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Sunni Ali was the first king of the Songhay Empire.
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After receiving the go-ahead from King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain, Christopher Columbus launched his voyage across the Atlantic Ocean and discovered the Americas.
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This early agreement between Spain and Portugal split the newofund territory in the Western Atlantic Ocean.
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The Safavid Empire took power over Persia under Shah Ismail.
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The first Spanish colonies in the Americas were founded by conquistadors on Carribean Islands and Hispaniola.
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John Calvin was a French theologian who proposed his own Protestant Christian doctrine, Calvinism.
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After being seduced by the wealth of the region, King Manuel I of Portugal ordered the invasion of Goa and Malacca, modern India and Malaysia.
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German monk Martin Luther writes his 95 theses about problems within the doctrine of the Catholic Church, sparking the Protestant Reformation.
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New sects of Christianity begin to form in Europe as growing skepticism about the teaching of the Catholic Church grows.
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Cortes defeated the Aztec Empire and claimed Mexico for Spain.
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Suleiman was the greatest and longest-reigning Sultan of the Ottoman Empire.
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It was an ecumenical council held by the Catholic church to counter the Protestant Reformation.
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Akbar was the greatest and longest-ruling king of the Mughal Empire.
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Hideyoshi was a daimyo and a samurai who brought an end to the Warring States period in Japan.
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The scientific revolution brought on modern scientific advances in Europe during the early modern period.
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Jamestown was the second permanent British colony in the Americas.
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John Locke was an English philosopher who is considered one of the most influential Enlightenment thinkers.
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The Qing dynasty was founded by Manchurian invaders who defeated the Ming dynasty.
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The Glorious Revolution saw the overthrow of King James II by the British Parliament and the drafting of an English Bill of Rights.