- Age of European Exploration: Name that Explorer -

In 1513, this explorer landed on the Atlantic coast of what is present-day Panama and hiked through thick jungles to discover that the American continent had a coastline facing the Pacific Ocean.

Vasco Nanez de Balboa

In 1488, this Portuguese explorer became the first European navigator to round the southern tip of Africa. Portugal's king named the newly discovered water passage "The Cape of Good Hope" because it provided a new sea route from Europe to the Asian spice trade islands.

Bartolomeu Dias

In 1520, this explorer sailed along the southern coast of what is present-day South America until he discovered a water passage that led to the Pacific Ocean. That water passage (called a strait) is named for him.

Ferdinand Magellan

In 1492, Spain sent this explorer to find a westward route to the Asian East Indies. Instead, he landed in a vast continent Europeans has no idea existed.

Christopher Columbus

In the 1530s, this explorer was the first European to discover the land along the shores of the St. Lawrence River. He was the first to document the territory's name as "Canada."

Jacques Cartier

In 1513, this explorer landed on the Atlantic into the Caribbean Sea. He explored the coastline as far south as the Florida Keys.

Juan Ponce de Leon

In 1500, this explorer sailed 13 ships into the western Atlantic Ocean, headed for Asia. The ships landed on the eastern coast of what he assumed was a large island. In fact, it was the continent of South America. The land he claimed as a colony for Portugal eventually became the country of Brazil.

Pedro Alvares Cabral

In 1497, this explorer sailed from Portugal to India. He became the first European able to sail to Asia by rounding Africa's Cape of Good Hope.

Vasco da Gama