
Who were the first 3 Explorers?
Who were the greatest explorers?
- Marco Polo (1254-1324):
- Vasco Da Gama (1460-1524):
- Christopher Columbus (1451-1506):
- Amerigo Vespucci (1454-1512):
- James Cook (1728-1779):
- Jeanne Baret (1740-1807):
- Charles Darwin (1809-1882):
- Ferdinand Magellan (1480-1521):
Who were early American explorers?
- Prince Henry of Portugal started a navigation school in the mid-1400s. ...
- In 1488, Bartholomew Dias from Portugal, sailed around the Cape of Good Hope at the southern tip of Africa. ...
- The Portuguese invented the mariner’s astrolabe. ...
- Columbus’s discovery of the Americas fueled a quest for gold. ...
- In 1532, Francisco Pizarro attacked the Inca Empire. ...
Who discovered America 500 years before Columbus?
Vikings in America: the Europeans who arrived 500 years before Columbus. Historian John Haywood tells the epic story of a small band of Scandinavian explorers who went where no European had gone before, 500 years ahead of the voyages of Columbus... Published: October 11, 2021 at 11:50 am.
What are the names of famous explorers?
- Sir Francis Drake.
- Leif Eriksson.
- Hernando de Soto.
- Hernan Cortes.
- John Cabot.
- Exploration of North America.
- Christopher Columbus.
- Northwest Passage.

Who were the first people to explore the world?
The Portuguese were the earliest participants in this “ Age of Discovery ,” also known as “ Age of Exploration .”. Starting in about 1420, small Portuguese ships known as caravels zipped along the African coast, carrying spices, gold, slaves and other goods from Asia and Africa to Europe.
What was the first voyage of Christopher Columbus?
The First Voyage. Niña, Pinta and Santa Maria. Christopher Columbus's Later Voyages. Legacy of Christopher Columbus. The explorer Christopher Columbus 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.
Why not sail west across the Atlantic instead of around the massive African continent?
He argued (incorrectly) that the circumference of the Earth was much smaller than his contemporaries believed it was; accordingly, he believed that the journey by boat from Europe to Asia should be not only possible, but comparatively easy via an as-yet undiscovered Northwest Passage .
What was the purpose of the Portuguese expeditions?
During the 15th and 16th centuries, leaders of several European nations sponsored expeditions abroad in the hope that explorers would find great wealth and vast undiscovered lands. The Portuguese were the earliest participants in this “ Age of Discovery ,” also known as “ Age of Exploration .”.
Where did Columbus go in 1493?
In January 1493, leaving several dozen men behind in a makeshift settlement on Hispaniola (present-day Haiti and the Dominican Republic), he left for Spain.
How did the Portuguese get to Asia?
At the end of the 15th century, it was nearly impossible to reach Asia from Europe by land. The route was long and arduous, and encounters with hostile armies were difficult to avoid. Portuguese explorers solved this problem by taking to the sea: They sailed south along the West African coast and around the Cape of Good Hope.
When was Columbus' journal written?
Christopher Columbus’s journal was written between August 3, 1492, and November 6, 1492 and mentions everything from the wildlife he encountered, like dolphins and birds, to the weather to the moods of his crew.
Who was the first European to explore the Atlantic coast of North America?
Ponce de León was struck by an arrow and died of his wounds. In 1524, Italian explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano sailed for King Francis I of France and is known as the first European since the Norse to explore the Atlantic coast of North America.
Who was the first person to discover North America?
Italian navigator and explorer Giovanni Caboto (known in English as John Cabot) is credited with the discovery of continental North America on June 24, 1497, under the commission of Henry VII of England.
What was America named after?
It was soon understood that Columbus had not reached Asia, but rather found what was to Europeans a New World, which in 1507 was named "America", probably after Amerigo Vespucci, on the Waldseemüller map .
What did Christopher Columbus discover?
Columbus rediscovered and explored much of the Lesser Antilles in his second voyage then discovered both Trinidad and Tobago on his third voyage whilst skirting the northern South American coast. His fourth voyage was spent scanning the Central American coast. The Voyages of Christopher Columbus opened the New World.
What was the purpose of Christopher Columbus' exploration of North America?
The exploration of North America by non-indigenous people was a continuing effort to map and explore the continent and advance the economic interests of said non-indigenous peoples of North America. It spanned centuries, and consisted of efforts by numerous people ...
Who explored the Southwest of North America?
There were numerous Spanish explorers and conquistadors who explored the Southwest of North America (including present-day west and central United States) and cross the continent (east to west) in its southern regions, mainly from the second quarter to the middle of the 16th century, such as Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca and Francisco Vásquez de Coronado, but also the North American Southeast and south-central regions. While Spain's Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo laid claim to the Pacific Coast of California in the mid 1500s, the earliest land expedition by the Portolà expedition two hundred years later established Catholic missions from Spanish-controlled Baja California northward.
Who was the first person to sail in the name of Labrador?
In 1499 João Fernandes Lavrador was licensed by the King of Manuel I of Portugal and together with Pêro de Barcelos they reached Greenland and sighted Labrador for the first time since Leif Erikson, which was granted and named after Lavrador. After returning he possibly went to Bristol to sail in the name of England. Nearly at the same time, between 1499 and 1502 the brothers Gaspar and Miguel Corte Real explored and named the coasts of Greenland, Labrador and also Newfoundland, naming " Terra Verde " the explored North American coasts. Both explorations were signaled in 1502 Cantino planisphere .
Who was the most famous explorer in the world?
Christopher Columbus. Famous Italian explorer and possibly the best-known explorer that ever lived. Known for "discovering" America (1492). Alonso de Ojeda is noted as the discoverer of South America, as commander of the fleet with Juan de la Cosa and Amerigo Vespucci (1493–1510).
Who was the first European to travel inland in North America?
Jacques Cartier was the first European to travel inland in North America and claimed the lands he explored for France (1534).
Where did Mauritius Augustus de Benyowsky travel?
^ "Memoirs and Travels of Mauritius Augustus Count de Benyowsky: Consisting of His Military Operations in Poland, His Exile into Kamchatka, His Escape and Voyage from that Peninsula through the Northern Pacific Ocean, Touching at Japan and Formosa, to Canton in China, with an Account of the French Settlement He Was Appointed to Form upon the Island of Madagascar". World Digital Library. 1790. Retrieved 2013-07-06.
Who was the Italian navigator who made several trips to the New World?
Italian navigator Amerigo Vespucci made several trips to the New World. He is known for convincing the Europeans that the New World is not Asia, but an entirely new unknown continent. This new continent was soon named after him, America (1497–1504).
Who was the first person to circumnavigate the globe?
Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan led the first circumnavigation of the globe (1519–21). Juan Sebastián Elcano took command after Ferdinand's death and completed the voyage, becoming the first person to circumnavigate the earth (1521–22).
Who was the first European explorer to explore the interior of Canada?
English explorer Henry Hudson explored what is now New York and northeastern Canada.
Who was the first European to explore the Congo River?
Diogo Cão is the first European to explore the Congo River and the west coast of Africa, south of the equator (1482–86). Bartolomeu Dias is known as the first European to sail around the southernmost tip of Africa, finding the eastern sea route to the Indian Ocean (1488). Christopher Columbus.

Overview
Further nautical explorations
In 1500, Pedro Álvares Cabral was sent by Portugal to explore South America. He is considered to be the discoverer of Brazil.
King Ferdinand II of Aragon sent Juan Ponce de León from the fledgling colony on Hispaniola to verify rumors of undiscovered land to the northwest. On April 2, 1513, Ponce de León disembarked on the northeast coast of what he named Fl…
Pre-Columbian exploration
According to the Sagas of Icelanders, Norse sailors (often called Vikings) from Iceland first settled Greenland in the 980s. Erik the Red explored and settled southwestern Greenland, which he named to entice potential Icelandic settlers, eventually establishing the Eastern and Western Settlements, which were abandoned around 1350.
L'Anse aux Meadows, an archaeological site on the northernmost tip of Newfoundland, and a sec…
Age of Discovery and the search for the Northwest Passage
The Viking voyages did not become common knowledge in the Old World, and Europeans remained unaware of the existence of the Americas as a whole, until the first decades following the year 1492. Many expeditions were launched from European nations in search of a Northwest Passage to East Asia (or "the Indies" as the region was called) in order to establish a shorter trade route to China than the Silk Road, a trade route which had become desperately needed and yet e…
Overland exploration of the West
There were numerous Spanish explorers and conquistadors who explored the Southwest of North America (including present-day west and central United States) and cross the continent (east to west) in its southern regions, mainly from the second quarter to the middle of the 16th century, such as Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca and Francisco Vásquez de Coronado, but also the North Ameri…
Gallery
• Maps of the New World
• Universalis Cosmographia, the Waldseemüller map dated 1507, depicts the Americas, Africa, Europe, Asia, and the Pacific Ocean separating Asia from the Americas.
• The Vinland map surfaced in 1965 and is claimed, though widely discredited, to be a 15th-century map depicting the Norse colony of Vinland.
See also
• 16th century in North American history
• Age of Discovery
• Notable cartographers of the Age of Exploration
• National Historic Trail
External links
• National Park Service links and materials on explorers of North America
• Historical Maps and Prints - A diverse collection (1503-1910) from the UBC Library Digital Collections that pertains to the exploration and mapping of the world, the evolution of cartography, and the settlement of North America