Explorer Timeline

Leif Eriksson

Jun 1, 1000

Leif Eriksson was a viking explorer who sailed to America in search of a settlement. He went to Vinland, or Vineland. He stayed there for some time, but the Natives kicked them out. He never explored more of North America.

Vinland

Aug 15, 1000

Vinland, in 1000,was discovered by Leif Eriksson and several other Vikings. It is an island that exists on the coasts of Canada and North America. It was a base for vikings to fish and hunt during the winter. Many of the viking's sagas, or stories of heroes, happened there.

Vikings

Nov 14, 1000

Vikings were a group of people who lived in present-day Sweden, Denmark, and Norway. They sailed west to the North America to find settlements. They were the first historically known figures in Europe to arrive in America.

Marco Polo

Nov 16, 1271

Marco Polo was an explorer and a trader, both in Europe and China. He traveled to many other countries in Asia, and even stayed in China for some years. Later, he wrote some books about his travels that inspired future explorers.

Constantinople

Dec 13, 1453

Constantinople was a very commonly used huge tradiing post for Europeans and Asian traders. It was located between the two continents, in the Black Sea. But in 1453, the Turks captured the city, forbidding the traders to pass by.

Bartholomeu Dias

Nov 17, 1488

Bartholomeu Dias was an European explorerwho was searching for a water route to Asia. He sailed all the way around the south tip of Africa, also called Cape of Good Hope. He was the first person in the whole world to sail around the Cspe of Good Hope.

Prince Henry

Nov 16, 1490

Prince Henry, a prince and an explorer of Portugal, started a navigation school that tought people how to make boats, make and read maps, and to use things like astrolabe and compass.He benefitted the exploration in Portugal greatly.

Christopher Columbus

Nov 17, 1492

Christopher Columbus was an Italian-born Spanish Explorer. He was attempting to find a sea route to India, but landed in America. However, Columbus thought that the land he had set his foot on was India. He calledd the people living there Indians. Christopher Columbus had been the first European to go to America.

Guanahani

Nov 17, 1492

Guanahani is an island which is placed in the Americas. Christopher Columbus, the famous explorer discovered it, but thought it as India and named people there Indians.

Martin Behaim

Nov 17, 1495

Martin Behaim was an European cartographer who made maps and globes of the world, paid by the Germans. He was so important because he'd made the world's first European-made globe. His maps helped many future explorers.

Giovanni Caboto

Nov 17, 1497

Giovanni Caboto was an European sailor who sailed across the Ocean Sea, on a voyage paid by England. He arrived to the Newfoundlnd, but thought is as Cathay, which is now China, the land of great Kublai Khan.

Vasco de Gama

Nov 17, 1498

Vasco de Gama was an Portugese explorer who was, llike so manyothers, searching for a water route to Asia. He was, amazingly, the first person to actually find it. His discovery was a great benefit in trading in the future.

Amerigo Vespucci

Nov 17, 1499

Amerigo Vespucci wasan Explorer who thought that Columbus's idea that Asia covered half the Earth, but that he had discovered a new continent. So, he set sail to North America and claimed it to be a new continent. Amerigo Vespucci was the first European to call America a continent.

Vasco Nunez de Balboa

Nov 17, 1513

Balboa was a Spanish soilder and an explorer. He proved that Asia was smaller then Christopher Columbus had thought, and claimed the Pacific Ocean for Spain. He also proved that Amerigo Vespucci was right about the new continent and named it after him, America.

Ferdinand Magellan

Nov 17, 1519

Ferdinand Magellan, a Portugese explorer, went on an important expedition to find a way to Asia by sailing west around the Americas. He died during his voyage, but one of his ships sailed all around the world, making him the first peron to have his ship sail around the world.