Naysoli Mejia , European Explores

Prince Henry the Navigator

(1394-1460) Prince of Portugal who established an observatory and school of navigation at Sagres and directed voyages that spurred the growth of Portugal's colonial empire.

Vasco Da Gama

Portuguese explorer. In 1497-1498 he led the first naval expedition from Europe to sail to India, opening an important commercial sea route.

Bartholomew Dias

Portuguese navigator that discovered the Cape of Good Hope in Southern Afica.

Ferdinand Magellan

Portuguese navigator who led the Spanish expedition of 1519-1522 that was the first to sail around the world.

Hernan Cortes

Spanish conquistador who defeated the Aztecs and conquered Mexico (1485-1547)

Francisco Pizarro

Spanish explorer who conquered the Incas in what is now Peru and founded the city of Lima (1475-1541).

Christopher Columbus

An Italian navigator who was funded by the Spanish Government to find a passage to the Far East. He is given credit for discovering the "New World," even though at his death he believed he had made it to India. He made four voyages to the "New World." The first sighting of land was on October 12, 1492, and three other journies until the time of his death in 1503.

John Cabot

English explorer who claimed Newfoundland for England while looking for Northwest Passage

Amerigo Vespucci

Florentine navigator who explored the coast of South America