European Exploration and Settlement in the New World
Despite the common belief that Christopher Columbus was the first European discover of the New World, it is far more likely that Leif (or Leiv) Erikson (or Eriksson or Ericson) sailed west from Greenland around the year 1000 and landed somewhere in present-day Canada, probably the coast of Labrador. However, no permanent settlement ensued and the discovery was largely forgotten.
The first European to discover America and remember was Christopher Columbus. As an Italian by birth, his name would have been Colombo then, and his Spanish sponsors would have called him Colon. For English speakers, his last name has been latinized.
Date
Explorer
Representing
Event
c. 1000
Leif Eriksson
Norse
Likely first European to Newfoundland
1418
(Prince Henry the Navigator)
Portugal
Offers training in navigation & cartography
1431
Gonzalo Cabral
Portugal
Discovered Azores
1440s
various
Portugal
Exploration along west African coast; slave trade
1453
(Fall of Constantinople)
Muslim closure of eastward routes may have spurred westward push.
1487-88
Bartholomeu Dias
Portugal
Reached Cape of Good Hope
1492
Christopher Columbus
Spain
First voyage
1494
(Treaty of Tordesillas)
Division of New World between Spain and Portugal
1497
John Cabot
England
To Newfoundland; English claim to North America
1497-98
Vasco da Gama
Portugal
Rounds Africa to India
1497+
Amerigo Vespucci
Spain
Portugal
West Indies and South America
1500-01
Pedro Álvarez Cabral
Portugal
Brazil
1513
Ponce de Léon
Spain
Florida
1513
Vasco Núñez de Balboa
Spain
Crossed Panama to Pacific Ocean
1519-22
Ferdinand Magellan
Spain
Circumnavigation of world completed by crew
1519+
Hernán Cortés
Spain
Conquered Aztecs in Mexico
1524-25
Giovanni da Verrazzano
France
Searched for Northwest Passage
1526
Lucas Vazquez Ayllon
Spain
Temporary settlement in in the Carolinas
1528-36
Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca
Spain
From Gulf of Mexico into Texas
1532+
Francisco Pizarro
Spain
Conquered Incas in Peru
1535
Jacques Cartier
France
Gulf of St. Lawrence; established French claim to North America
1539-42
Hernando De Soto
Spain
Southeastern U.S. and Mississippi River
1540
Francisco Coronado
Spain
Northern Mexico and southwestern U.S.
1542
Juan Rodriquez Cabrillo
Spain
California
1565
Don Pedro Menendez de Aviles
Spain
St. Augustine founded
1576-78
Sir Martin Frobisher
England
Search for Northwest Passage
1577-80
Sir Francis Drake
England
First English circumnavigation
1585+
England
Roanoke “Lost Colony"
1598+
Juan de Oñate
Spain
Settlement in New Mexico
1602
Bartholomew Gosnold
England
Explored New Englandcoast
1603-15
Samuel de Champlain
