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Prince Henry the Navigator and his team create a new ship called a caravel. Prior to this, European ships could only sail with direct wind. The caravel could sail both with and against the wind, and explore rocky shorelines, inland waterways, and the open ocean -
Bartolomeu Dias becomes the first European explorer to travel around the Cape of Good Hope in Southern Africa. This was significant because it proved that there was another ocean on the Eastern side of Africa (the Indian Ocean). -
Columbus thinks he's discovered the East Indies, but he first makes landfall on Watling's Island in the present-day Bahamas. He would go on to take three additional voyages to the region, discovering Cuba, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Jamaica, Central America, and South America -
King Henry VII sponsored Cabot to take a voyage to find the Northwest Passage. Cabot thought he made landfall in present-day Japan, but instead he landed in Newfoundland, Canada. He was the first European to reach North America since the Vikings. -
Vasco da Gama followed Dias' path around the Cape of Good Hope. Instead of turning back as Dias did, da Gama continued up the Eastern coast of Africa until he reached India. This gave Portugal access to the East and opened up trade routes that would help turn Portugal into a global empire -
Searching for the mythical "Fountain of Youth," Juan Ponce de Leon landed on the mainland of North America. He named this land Florida (flowery) in reference to the area's lush vegetation and because he discovered it at Easter time -
Ferdinand Magellan's expedition became the first to circumnavigate the globe. The expedition took over three years, and by the time it was over Magellan's crew had traveled around 60,000 miles. His voyage showed that a route to Asia could be found by sailing West from Europe.
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With the help of rival indigenous communities, Hernan Cortes takes control of the Aztech capital of Tenochtitlan in Mexico. This would not have been possible without the help of local translator Malinche. She facilitated the passage of Cortes and his army into Mexico, gathered allies for him, and warned him of impending danger along the way. -
Giovanni da Verrazzano was sent by King Francis I of France to explore the East coast of North America in search of a route to the Pacific. da Verrazzano landed in Cape Fear, North Carolina in March 1524. He continued up the coastline of what would become the United States, reaching the New York Harbor on April 17, 1524. The New York Harbor is home to Ellis Island, where European immigrants would enter America. -
Francisco Pizarro led the Spanish conquest of the Incan Empire. Pizarro and his superior weaponry took full advantage of an Inca people weakened by a civil war and the arrival of European diseases, which killed anywhere from 65%-90% of the population, including the Inca ruler Wayna Qhapaq. The largest empire in the world had been conquered.