Timeline of Events: Age of Discovery
It is feasible that English, Irish, or Scandinavian fishermen inadvertently
came ashore on the North American continent after their boats were
blown off course. However, there are no records.
Scandinavia
 985 : Norwegian Viking Eric the Red set up two colonies on
Greenland.
 1000 : Leif Ericson (son of Eric the Red) voyages even farther to
New Foundland (L’Anse Aux Meadows). He calls the area
Vinland the Good due to the abundance of grapes. A later
expedition stays at Vinland for 3 years, but abandoned the site due
to hostile natives, poor lines of communication, and political
upheavals at home. They were never to return.
Spain & Portugal
 1488 : Bartholomeu Dias sails around the southern tip of Africa
(Cape of Good Hope) into the Indian Ocean.
 1492 : Italian (Genoa, 1451 - Cristoforo Colombo) Christopher
Columbus talks to Dias after his return to Portugal from the Cape
of Good Hope. For years, Columbus works on Ferdinand and
Isabella until they finally consent to give him three ships : the
Pinta, the Nina, and the Santa Maria. It is the same year they
drove the Muslims out of Spain, and Isabella desires to spread
Christianity to Asia. He set sail in August 1492. Columbus estimate
the journey to be 3,000 miles to mainland Asia, in reality it is a
10,600 mile distance. However, as we know, North and South
America were in the way. On October 12, 1492, after 33 days at sea,
they spot land, just in time - sailors were getting anxious and
contemplating mutiny. They land on an island in the Bahamas
which Columbus names San Salvador, translates as Holy Savior,
(Watlings Island). Later on the same voyage Hispaniola (Haiti and
Dominican Republic) and Cuba are visited, and trading posts are
set up. In 1493, Columbus returns to a hero’s welcome. Spain
finances 3 more journeys for Columbus to explore the Caribbean.
Since his calculation were seemingly correct, Columbus remained
convinced he is off the coast of China (Cathay). In 1504, Columbus
returns to Spain, where he later dies a disappointed man in 1506.
 1494 : Treaty of Tordesillas : Ferdinand and Isabella appeal to
Pope Alexander VI to divide the new world in an effort to prevent
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Portugal from taking over Columbus’s discoveries. The line of
demarcation was 1500 miles of the coast of Cape Verde, the
westernmost point of Africa. The treaty kept the two countries
from going to war and kept the rest of Europe away from the S.
American continent. Ironically, a big chunk of S. America was in
the Portuguese zone. In 1500, Pedro Alvarez Cabral was blown off
course while attempting to sail around Africa, landed in Brazil,
and claimed it for Portugal.
1497-98 : Vasco da Gama reaches India via the Cape of Good
Hope. He lost two of his four ships and many men died. However,
3,000% profit was made on the cargo of spices. Portugal now had a
direct access to the spice trade, resulting in big profits.
1499 & 1502 : On behalf of Portugal, Amerigo Vespucci (who also
sailed for Spain) explores the coast of Brazil, and on a second
voyage he explores the coast of Argentina. He returns to Europe
and announces that he has not been to Asia, but rather to a new
continent that “it is proper to call a new world.” In 1507, a German
cartographer created a new world map and names the new
continent America in honor of Vespucci. In 1538, a Flemish
cartographer, Gerhardus Mercator, applies the name America to
the northern continent as well.
1513 : Juan Ponce de Leon explores Florida searching for gold and
the fountain of youth.
1513 : Spaniard - Vasco Nunez de Balboa (with the aid of natives)
hacked his way through the jungle and crossed the isthmus of
Panama in search of gold. He is the first Euro to see the other
ocean - he called it the South Sea. It was renamed Mar Pacifico by
Ferdinand Magellan.
1519-21 : Cortes conquers Mexico for Spain.
1519-22 : Ferdinand Magellan (Portuguese but sailed for Spain)
sets out to sail around the world to find the western route to the
Spice Islands for Spain. He goes around the tip of S. America,
which is later named the Strait of Magellan, and across the Pacific
to the a group of island he names the Philippines in honor of
Philip V. Magellan is killed in a battle, but 8 members of his crew
make it back to Spain with a cargo of cloves.
1533 : Francisco Pizarro invades Peru, climbs the Andes, and
conquers the Incas for Spain.
1536 : Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca and Fray Marcos return to
Mexico City after wandering throughout the southeastern U.S. and
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Texas in separate expeditions since the 1520’s. They tell about
legends of golden cities, the Seven Cities of Cibola. The quest for
el dorado begins.
1539-42 : Hernado de Soto explores Florida and the southeast
searching for gold.
1540-42 : Francisco Vasquez de Coronado explores the
southwestern U.S. to find the Seven Cities of Cibola. He goes as
far as Kansas and sees the Grand Canyon. Ironically, the golden
cities turned out to be Zuni pueblos, not the fabled cities of
wealth.
1565 : Spanish fort of St. Augustine is established in Florida.
1580 : Phillip II of Spain is also ruling Portugal. Spanish
possessions include the empires of Mexico and Peru, most of what
is now the southern and southwest U.S., and the Philippines.
Appearances suggest that the entire western hemisphere will be
speaking Spanish.
1598 : Spanish provincial capital set up in Santa Fe (New Mexico)
by Juan de Onate.
Borderlands : areas in present-day U.S. which were once Spanish
territory : Florida, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, California,
and Nevada. Due to hostile Indians and the great distance from
Mexico City, these areas were never of much interest to the
Spanish. A token presence was maintained to discourage French
encroachment. California was basically ignored until 1769 when
Father Junipero Serra and Don Gaspar de Portola founded
missions and presidios (forts) along El Camino Real (the royal
road) from San Diego to San Francisco.
France
 1524 : Francis I sends Italian navigator Giovanni de Verrazano
searching for the illusive northwest passage along the coast of N.
America.
 1534-41 : Jacques Cartier explores the St. Lawrence River, stops at
a site he calls Mount Royal (Montreal), while looking for a route to
Asia.
 1562 : Huguenot colony at Fort Caroline in northern Florida
established.
 1564 : Huguenot colony at Charles Fort near the Savanna River
established.
 1565 : Huguenot colony at Fort Caroline massacred by the
Spanish.
 1566 : Huguenot colony at Charles Fort massacred by the Spanish.
 1603-15 : Samuel de Champlain explores the St. Lawrence River
valley and sets up fur trading posts during seven trips. In 1608, he
founds the first permanent French settlement at Quebec.
 1669-82 : During many trips, Sieur Robert Cavelier de La Salle
explores the lower Mississippi and claims the entire river valley,
which he names Louisiana after Louis XIV. The towns of New
Orleans and Biloxi are founded on the Gulf of Mexico. The
northern and central areas of N. America are now under French
control. This worries English colonists who perceive that the
French are intent on encircling them and cutting them off from
westward expansion.
 1673 : Priest Jacques Marquette & trader Louis Joliet use Quebec
as a base to explore the Great Lakes & upper Mississippi, set up
trading posts and spread Christianity.
England
 1497 : John Cabot (Italian Giovanni Caboto) is sent by Henry VII
to set up trading posts. He lands on an island he names New
Founde Lande. He makes a second voyage. He and his 4 ships are
lost at sea.
 1583 : Sir Humphrey Gilbert sets out to establish a settlement on
New Founde Lande. On the return trip, he and his entire crew are
lost at sea.
 1584 : Elizabeth I sends Sir Walter Raleigh to found a settlement
anywhere north of Spanish territory. His expedition lands on
Roanoke Island (North Carolina). He names the area Virginia, in
honor of the virgin queen, Elizabeth.
 1585 : Failed attempt to establish a colony on Roanoke Island.
 1587 : Another group of colonists attempt survival on Roanoke, led
by Sir Richard Grenville and men who had left Irish settlements.
 1590 : A supply expedition finds the Roanoke colony site deserted.
The true nature of its demise is unknown.
 1609-11 : Henry Hudson explores what later becomes known as the
Hudson River and the Hudson Bay while he in search of the
elusive northwest passage.