| Date |
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 |
Father
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 |
