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1488
Bartolomeu Dias
Bartolomeu Dias was a Portuguese mariner and explorer who became the first European mariner to round the southern tip of Africa, opening the way for a sea route from Europe to Asia.Oct -
1492
Christopher Columbus
Christopher Columbus was a very famous explorer. He made four trips across the Atlantic Ocean from Spain: in 1492, 1493, 1498, and 1502. He was determined to find a direct water route west from Europe to Asia, but he never did. Instead, he stumbled upon the Americas in 1492. -
1497
John Cabot
John Cabot was an Italian navigator/explorer who sailed from Bristol and discovered Newfoundland and Cape Breton Island on the North American coast. -
1497
Vasco da Gama
Vasco da Gama was a Portuguese explorer. In 1497, the Portuguese king assign Da Gama to find a maritime route to the East. His success was marked down as memorable navigation history. He subsequently made two other voyages to India and was appointed as Portuguese viceroy in India in 1524. -
Feb 26, 1506
Verrazzano settles in Port of Dieppe.
After a while Verrazzano settled in Dieppe, France. He came face to face with the leader of the French Navy. Here he tried to persuade King Francis to promote an expedition to find a passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean. -
1519
Hernán Cortés
Hernán Cortés was the Former Governor of New Spain and the first conquistador. In 1519, he conquered the Aztecs and claimed Mexico on behalf of Spain. -
Feb 26, 1523
King Francis asked Verrazzano to explore together.
King Francis 1 asked Verrazzano to go explore between FLorida and Terranova which was the “new land”, in hopes of finding a new trade and sea route to the pacific ocean. -
Jul 8, 1524
Verrazzano Returns to France.
After one of the ships reached North America on January 7, 1524. The new route was successful and Verrazzano set back to France except he didn't get there until July 8, 1524. -
Feb 26, 1527
Verrazzano sales to Brazil
He was actually on his way to the new world in order to search of a passage to Asia. -
Feb 26, 1528
Verrazzano sets sail
In 1528. Verrazzano set sail on what would be his final voyage.
His pure intention of this sail was to trade for spices in the West Indies, while reaching other places too. -
1534
Jacques Cartier
Jacques Cartier was a french explorer who was the first European to navigate the St. Lawrence River, and his explorations of the river and the Atlantic coast of Canada, on three expeditions from 1534 to 1542, laid the basis for later French claims to North America. -
Dec 13, 1577
Sir Francis Drake begins his circumnavigation of the Earth.
Drake became the leader of an expedition to pass around South America, through the Strait of Magellan, and explore the coast beyond. In three years, he became the second person ever to circumnavigate the globe. -
The Dutch Golden Age began.
It was a period in the Netherlands’ history that started around the birth of the Dutch Republic. During this time, Dutch trade, science, art, and military were one of the most renowned in Europe. -
English merchants found the East India Company.
A group of English merchants formed the East India Company by royal charter to exploit trade in East and Southeast Asia and India. The English broke the Spanish and Portuguese monopoly of the East Indian spice trade using this company. -
Dutch merchants found the Dutch East India Company.
A group of wealthy merchants found the Dutch East India Company to find an all-water route to Asia and occupy unclaimed lands they discovered. The company quickly grew and pushed competing powers out of the Dutch East Indies. -
Henry Hudson began to explore the North American coast.
Hudson sailed for English merchants who wanted to discover a northwest passage. He did not succeed in reaching Asia, but he did explore the North Atlantic Ocean, Greenland, Iceland, parts of North America, and the Hudson River. -
The Navigation acts were a series of laws passed by the British Parliament that imposed restrictions on colonial trade.
The Navigation Act of 1651, aimed primarily at the Dutch, required all trade between England and the colonies to be carried in English or colonial vessels, resulting in the Anglo-Dutch War in 1652. -
The slave trade ends greatly reducing the price of slave coming to the Americas.
This made them willing to give back the dutch territories that had come under British protectorate during the wars. -
Bacon’s Rebellion in Virginia. Lower class white virginians rising up against William Berkeley.
It was led by Nathaniel Bacon against Colonial Governor William Berkeley, after Berkeley refused Bacon’s request to drive Native Americans out of Virginia. -
The dominion formed a megacolony and accomplished three purposes: Strengthened colonial defense from Native American attacks.
It was an administrative union of English colonies. Its political structure represented centralized control similar to the model used by the Spanish monarchy through the Viceroyalty of Spain. -
Hudson sailed from London in a 55-ton ship discovery, stopped briefly in Iceland, then continued west.
After traversing the coast again, he passed through the inlet Weymouth had described as a potential entry point to a northwest passage. -
Samuel Wallis
Samuel Wallis was a caption in the British Navy from 1766 to 1768. During this voyage, the Dolphin discovered the island of Tahiti and many other South Pacific islands that were soon to become famous. -
James Cook
James Cook was a British explorer, navigator, cartographer, and captain in the British Royal Navy. He sailed the seaways and coasts of Canada and conducted three expeditions to the Pacific Ocean(1768–71, 1772–75, and 1776–79). In 1770, he climbed to the highest point of Possession Island and claimed the east coast of the Australian continent for Britain, naming it New South Wales.