Explorers and Discoverers Flashcards
Vikings
Labrador, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and New England ca. A.D. 1000. They named their settlements Helluland, Markland and Vineland.
Prince Henry the Navagator
(1394-1460) Great Portuguese patron of exploration; expeditions financed by Henry explored the Madeiras, the Azors, the Canaries and the West African Coast.
Bartolomeu Dias
First to pass the Cape of Good Hope, 1488, for Portugal.
Cristopher Columbus
Italian (Genoa); discovered America for Spain, 1492. He made four voyages and discovered many of the major Caribbean islands (Cuba, Puerto Rico, Jamaica, Hispaniola). Born Cristopher Colombo; known in Spanish as Cristoforo Colon.
John Cabot
Italian (Venetian); Newfoundland or Nova Scotia, northeast coast of North America, for England, 1497-98. Cabot was born Giovanni Caboto.
Vasco da Gama
Portuguese; First to reach India, 1498, for Portugal.
Pedro Cabral
Portuguese; Discovered Barzil, for Portugal, 1513.
Vasco Nunez de Balboa
Spanish; First European to lead an expidition to have seen or reached the Pacific from the New World, for Spain, 1513.
Hernando Cortez
Spanish; Conquered Aztec Empire of Mexico, for Spain, 1519.
Ferdinand Magellan
Portuguese; First circumnavigation of the globe, for Spain, 1519-1520. Expedition discovered Straits of Magellan and the Philippines, where Magellan was killed (Battle of Mactan). His crew finished the voyage afterward.
Giovanni Verrazano
Italian (Florence); Discovered New York harbor, for France, 1524. The Verrazano-Narrows Bridge connecting Brooklyn and Staten Island across the mouth of New York harbor is named for him.
Francisco Pizarro
Spanish; Conquered Inca Empire of Peru, for Spain, 1524. Was with Balboa on expedition to Pacific.
Jacques Cartier
French; Discovered Gulf of St. Lawrence, etc., for France, 1532. Named Canada.
Hernando de Soto
Spanish; Discovered the Mississippi River (by land), for Spain, 1539-41. Captain under Pizarro in conquest of Peru.
Francisco de Coronado
Spanish; Led expedition across much of what is now the southwest United States, for Spain, in search of Cibola, the Seven Cities of Gold, 1540.
Samuel de Champlain
French; Canada and Lake Champlain, for France, 1603-1609. “The Father of New France”
Henry Hudson
English; Discovered Hudson River, for Dutch East India Company; Discovered Hudson Bay, for England, 1609-10, while searching for northwest passage. Crew mutinied in 1611.
Jacques Marquette, Louis Joliet
French (Laon, Quebec); Explored the Northern Mississippi River, for France, 1673.
Sieur de La Salle
French; Explored the length of the Mississippi, for France, 1682; Laid claim to all lands touching the river, which he called Louisiana for King Louis XIV.
Vitus Bering
Danish; Explored the northern Pacific and the Aleutian Islands, for Russia, 1728, 1741.
James Cook
English; Three voyages of exploration across the Pacific for Britain, 1768-79. He discovered the east coast of Australia, was the first to sail across the Antarctic Circle, and discovered Christmas Island and the Hawaiian (Sandwich) Islands, where he was killed.
Alexander Mackenzie
Scottish; Explored the Canadian northwest, for Britain, 1789. First East to West crossing of North America North of Mexico (predated Lewis and Clark by 10 years).
Mungo Park
Scottish; Explored the Gambia and Niger Rivers, for Britain, 1795-98, 1805.
Dr. David Livingstone
Scottish; Crossed Africa, discovered Victoria Falls, for Britain, 1853-1856. His meeting with H.M. Stanley gave rise to the line “Dr. Livingstone, i presume.”
