Timeline

1450	Prince Henry the Navigator builds a school for sailors.
1453	The Turkish empire cuts off the land route from Asia to Europe. Search for a sea route begins.
1487	Bartholomeu Dias discovers the southern tip of Africa.
1492	Christopher Columbus lands on an island of the Bahamas.
1497	John Cabot discovers Newfoundland while he searches for a north-western passage to India.
1498	Vasco Da Gama finds a sea route to India by sailing around Africa.
1502	Amerigo Vespucci returns from his explorations of South America. A German mapmaker names the New World after him.
1513	Vasco de Balboa discovers the eastern shore of the Pacific Ocean.
1519-1522	Magellan sails around the world.
1521	Hernando Cortez defeats the Aztec empire.
1533	Francisco Pizarro defeats the Inca empire.
1534	Jacques Cartier sails down the St. Lawrence River and discovers the Great Lakes.
1577	Sir Francis Drake is the first Englishman to sail around the world.
1607	The first settlement is called Jamestown.
1610	Henry Hudson discovers Hudson Bay.
1620	The Mayflower lands with pilgrims in the New World.
1673	Father Jacques Marquette and Louis Joliet explore the Mississippi River.