Evolution of the Age of Exploration and Globalization

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  • 1420

    Prince Henry the Navigator of Portugal sponsors voyages along the western Coast of Africa

    Prince Henry the Navigator of Portugal funded expeditions to explore the western coast of Africa, find new trade routes, establish colonies, and search for resources such as gold.
  • 1488

    Bartolomeu Dias rounds the Cape of Good Hope

    Bartolomeu Dias proved that a sea route to the East was possible.
  • 1492

    Christopher Columbus's first voyage reaches one of the Bahamas

    Christopher Columbus doesn't realize he's discovered a new land.
  • 1498

    Vasco da Gama successfully navigates a sea route to India for Portugal

    Vasco da Gama’s voyage established the first direct sea route from Europe to Asia, which was a major development for trade and the Portuguese Empire.
  • 1500

    Transatlantic slave trade begins

    This trade transported enslaved Africans across the Atlantic Ocean to the Americas from the 16th to the 19th century.
  • 1513

    Vasco Nunez de Balboa crossed the Isthmus of Panama

    Vasco Nunez de Balboa was the first European to see the Pacific Ocean.
  • 1520

    Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan sails around South America into the Pacific

    Despite Magellan’s death in 1521, his expedition becomes the first to circumnavigate the globe.
  • 1521

    Spanish conquistador Hernan Cortes defeats the Aztecs Empire and conquers Mexico

    This victory marked the fall of the Aztec empire.
  • 1541

    Hernando de Soto discovered the Mississippi River

    1539 - 1542 - Hernando de Soto explored much of the southeastern United States.

  • The English East India Company is founded

    The company was established to participate in the East Indian spice trade.