1st century AD Chinese invent the first compass.

120 AD Ptolemy creates the first flat map of the world

982 Eric the Red discovers Greenland

1002 Leif Erickson discovers North America.

1271- 1295 Marco Polo goes to China.

1450 Prince Henry the Navigator builds school for sailors.

1487 Bartholomeu Dias discovers the southern tip of Africa.

1492 Columbus sails to the New World.

1497 John Cabot discovers Newfoundland while he searches for the Northwest Passage

1502 Amerigo Vespucci returns from his explorations of the New World.  American continents named after him by German mapmaker.

1513 .Vasco Nunez de Balboa discovers the eastern shore of the Pacific Ocean.  Juan Ponce de Leon searches for the Fountain of Youth in Florida.

1519 – 1522 Ferdinand Magellan and his crew sail around the world.

1521 Hernando Cortez defeats the Aztec Empire.

1533 Francisco Pizarro defeats the Inca Empire

1534 Jacques Cartier discovers the St. Lawrence River and the Great Lakes

1539 – 1542 Hernando De Soto explores the southeastern United States

1540 Francisco Vasquez de Coronado explores the southwestern United States and discovers the Grand Canyon.

1577 Sir Francis Drake becomes the first Englishman to sail around the world.

Explorers to the New World1539 – 1542 Hernando De Soto explores the southeastern United States.

1540 Francisco Vasquez de Coronado explores the southwestern United States and discovers the Grand Canyon.

1577 Sir Francis Drake becomes the first Englishman to sail around the world.

1673 Father Jacques Marquette and Louis Joliet explore the Mississippi River.

1682 Rene-Robert de La Salle explores the Mississippi River from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico.

ExplorersDate Explorer Nationality Achievement

Around 1000

Leif Ericson Norse First European to reach North American Mainland

1271-1295

Marco Polo Italian  

Traveled to the Far East, to what was known then as Cathay or China-Made men want to travel there through his book

1394-1460

Prince Henry Portuguese Created navigation school in Sagres, Portugal Explored the western African coastline

1487-1488

Bartholomeu Dias

Portuguese First European to round the Cape of Good Hope

1492-1504

Christopher Columbus

Italian Made 4 voyages to West Indies and Caribbean Islands

1497-1503

Amerigo Vespucci

Italian Sailed to West Indies and South America

1497-1498

John Cabot Italian Explored the shores of Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, and Labrador

1498 Vasco Da Gama

Portuguese First to travel to West Indies around Africa

1513 Vasco de Balboa

Spanish Led expedition across Panama and found the Pacific Ocean

1513 Juan Ponce de Leon

Spanish Explored Florida looking for the Fountain of Youth

1520-1521 Ferdinand Magellan

Portuguese Commanded first globe circling voyage

1519-1521 Hernando Cortez Spanish Conquered Aztecs in Mexico

1523 Giovanni da Verranzano

Italian Searched for a Northwest Passage

1523-1535 Francisco Pizarro Spanish Conquered Peru

1534-1542 Jacques Cartier French Traveled St. Lawrence River

1539-1541 Hernando De Soto Spanish Explored American Southeast-Discovered the Mississippi River

1540-1542 Francisco Vazquez de Coronado

Spanish Explored American Southwest

1577-1580 Sir Frances Drake English First English to sail around the world-Defeated the Spanish Armada- Claimed California for England

1603-1616 Samuel de Champlain

French Explored eastern coast of North America and the coast of the St. Lawrence River to Lake Huron-Reached Lake Champlain

1609-1611 Henry Hudson English Explored Hudson Bay, Hudson River, and Hudson Strait

1672 Marquette and Louis Joliet

French Explored Northern  Mississippi River

1682 Robert LaSalle French Traveled to the mouth of the Mississippi River and claimed it for France

Saint Brendan

• Who was Saint Brendan and did he lead Columbus to discover America?

This is a common myth about the discovery of America. St. Brendan was an Irish monk or priest that lived well before the time of Columbus. Some people think that he traveled to the Americas. We have no way of knowing one way or the other because there is no physical evidence, and most of the stories about him sound like legends and are very mythic in style.

However, Columbus apparently did have some prior information that there was land on the other side of the Atlantic ocean. Many scholars think he obtained it in part from the fishermen of Bristol in England and from those in Portugal, both of whom are likely to have explored the rich fishing grounds off the Grand Banks in Canada and in the Caribbean. He somehow knew the exact route with the best ocean currents for the times of year when he sailed and made an almost direct line to his first landing.

So, while we do not know if St. Brendan actually went to America (there are unconfirmed legends that the Welsh, the Egyptians and the Phoenicians also landed there), we do think that Columbus may have gotten information from fishermen in the British Isles.

The Irish Discover America

• In the fifth century, St. Patrick started the christening of the Irish. The Irish quickly accepted the new religion, and soon started to make voyages of their own. In 563, St. Columba established a monastery on the island of Iona, on the Scottish coast, and from Iona and other places, the Irish not only preached among the Picts, but also traveled onto the Atlantic Ocean. A famous story is the one of the voyages of St. Brendan, who traveled to the Atlantic to find the Promised Land of the Saints. According to the story, he found several islands and had a number of adventures before finding this promised land. Although St. Brendan was a historical person, the story was probably not that of his voyage, but a combination of stories from several Irish monks. There is discussion about the nature of the islands that are described. The Orkneys, Faeroe and Iceland are almost certainly included, but historians do not agree whether some of the descriptions are about the Azores, Newfoundland and other lands in America. What is certain, is that the Irish later established themselves in Faeroe, and, from the late eighth century onwards, Iceland. After the arrival of the Vikings they may have left Iceland for Greenland, but nothing has been heard of this colony since.

The Mythical Northwest Passage

At that time the Europeans believed everything in the north was covered by ice and it was not until the 1490s, when John Cabot proposed that there must exist a direct way to the Orient via the Northwest Passage, that the Europeans' interest in the far north was peaked. It was during the 16th century that Europe began to investigate the possibility of a passage in the Northwest that would offer a safer sea route to the Orient than those which lay exposed to possible Spanish or Portuguese attack, such as the areas of Cape Horn and the Cape of Good Hope. This search was to continue for over 300 years, during which time explorers would brave the harsh climate and treacherous ice conditions of the North. Some men would lose their lives due to starvation, scurvy, attack by Inuit or even their fellow crew in an attempt to find a way through the maze of ice and islands.

Cabot, Drake, and Hudson Explore

AArgh, Matey!Pirates!

• Why did so many pirates operate in the Caribbean Sea and off the coast of America? The explorer Christopher Columbus established contact between Europe and the lands that were later named America at the end of the 15th century, while searching for a quick route to the east. As he was working for the king and queen of Spain, these 'new lands' were claimed by the Spanish, who soon discovered them to be a rich source of silver, gold and gems. From the 16th century, large Spanish ships, called galleons, began to sail back to Europe, loaded with precious cargoes that pirates found impossible to resist. So many successful pirate attacks were made that galleons were forced to sail together in fleets with armed vessels for protection. As Spanish settlers set up new towns on Caribbean islands and the American mainland, these too came under pirate attack.

• Why were pirate attacks so often successful?Pirate ships usually carried far more crew than ordinary ships of a similar size. This meant they could easily outnumber their victims. Pirates altered their ships so that they could carry far more cannon than merchant ships of the same size. Stories about pirate brutality meant that many of the most famous pirates had a terrifying reputation, and they advertised this by flying various gruesome flags including the 'Jolly Roger' with its picture of skull and crossbones. All these things together meant that victims often surrendered very quickly. Sometimes there was no fighting at all.

Captain Jack Sparrow crosses paths with a woman from his past (Penélope Cruz), and he's not sure if it's love—or if she's a ruthless con artist who's using him to find the fabled Fountain of Youth. When she forces him aboard the Queen Anne's Revenge, the ship of the formidable pirate Blackbeard (Ian McShane), Jack finds himself on an unexpected adventure in which he doesn't know who to fear more: Blackbeard or the woman from his past.

Orlando and Keira apparently aren’t in this one

The Spanish Main—the main route the Spanish treasure galleons back to Spain!

The Bermuda Triangle

Sir Francis Drake

• Sir Francis Drake, navigator and privateer, is one of the greatest English sea-captains of all time. Revered as a hero in the fight against the Armada and despised as an upstart by the old nobility, Drake epitomizes the self-made Elizabethan privateer, rapacious in the hunt for treasure (especially Spanish treasure) but daring and visionary in exploration. Drake and his crew are remembered as the first Englishmen to circumnavigate the globe, claiming a portion of California for Elizabeth along the way. His attack on Cadiz and his devastating raids on the Spanish Main earned him the fear and the grudging respect of the Spaniards, who call him El Draque, "The Dragon".

• Drake's exploits are the distant inspiration for the adventures of Captain Geoffrey Thorpe (Errol Flynn) in Michael Curtiz's film The Sea-Hawk, which has nothing but the title in common with the Rafael Sabatini novel of the same name.

Balboa 1513Cortez 1519Coronado 1540-1542De Soto 1539-1542Pizarro 1531-1533Ponce de Leon 1513

CABRILLO, JUAN RODRIGUEZJuan Rodriguez Cabrillo (? -1543) was a Spanish or Portuguese explorer (his nationality is uncertain). Cabrillo was the first European explorer of the Californian coast. In 1542, he sailed from Acapulco to southern California, claiming California for King Charles I of Spain. Cabrillo named San Diego Bay and Santa Barbara. He died on San Miguel Island (in the Santa Barbara Channel) after a fight with Indians, from complications resulting from a broken leg.

On 23 November 1542, the little fleet limped back to "San Salvador" (Santa Catalina Island) to overwinter and make repairs. There, around Christmas Eve, Cabrillo stepped out of his boat and splintered his shin when he stumbled on a jagged rock. The injury developed gangrene and he died on 3 January 1543 and was buried.

João Rodrigues Cabrilho

He named Santa Barbara and San Diego, but he missed Monterrey Bay, San Francisco Bay, and Golden Gate Bay.

Olaudah Equiano's Travels

• About half of each ship died through the Middle Passage, that the sharks altered their migration patterns to follow the slave ships.

Triangular Trade