European Explorers

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Found a sea route to India by sailing around the Cape of Good Hope into the Indian Ocean. 1492 to 1502 (Portugal)

Bartolomeu Dias

Accidentally discovered Brazil while going around Africa to reach India. 1497-1498 (Portugal)

Pedro Cabral

Explored the Caribbean. 1492 to 1504, he paved the way for European colonization of the Americas. (Spain)

Christopher Columbus

Trip showed the earth is round, found the Strait of Magellan, and mapped the Pacific Ocean. 1519 to 1521, helped later explorers. (Spain)

Ferdinand Magellan

Explored the Aztec Empire. landed in Veracruz and started Villa Rica. He got help from the Tlaxcalans and explored the Yucatán Peninsula. 1519 to 1521 (Spain)

Hernán Cortés

Discovered the Inca Empire and found gold and silver. He captured the Inca emperor Atahualpa and asked for a room full of treasure, which was sent to Spain. 1524 to 1541 (Spain)

Francisco Pizarro

Started the first European settlement in Panama, Santa María la Antigua. First European to see the Pacific Ocean, which he called the South Sea. 1510 to 1513 (Spain)

Vasco de Balboa

Was the first European to discover Florida, found an island called Bimini in the Bahamas. 1493 to 1521 (Spain)

Juan Ponce de León

Explored the southwestern United States, was one of the first Europeans to see the Grand Canyon and the Great Plains. 1540 to 1542 (Spain)

Francisco Vázquez de Coronado

Discovered Québec, the first permanent French settlement in North America, 1604 to 1616 (France)

Samuel de Champlain

Were the first non-Natives to explore and map the Upper Mississippi River. Lasted for four months (France)

Marquette & Joliet

Explored the Mississippi River, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Great Lakes region, 1681 to 1682 (France)

René-Robert Cavelier

Sought a passage from the Arctic, discovered Nova Scotia, and explored Massachusetts, New York, and New Jersey, naming waterways like Hudson River and Hudson Bay. 1607 to 1611 (Netherlands)

Henry Hudson

Led the New Netherland colony, part of the Dutch West India Company. He is said to have acquired Manhattan during his explorations. 1626 to 1631 (Netherlands)

Peter Minuit

Explored the Arctic, particularly Frobisher Bay, advancing English maritime exploration. He claimed to find valuable minerals, which turned out to be less valuable, during his voyages. 1576 to 1578 (England)

Martin Frobisher

Was granted a patent to explore Virginia, paving the way for English settlements. He sought a City of Gold in South America and published an account that contributed to the El Dorado legend. 1585 to 1603 (England)

Walter Raleigh

Explored the California coastline, including San Diego Bay, as well as Santa Catalina and Santa Barbara Islands. 1542 to 1543 (Spain)

Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo

Was the first to explore the North Pacific and West Coast, meeting the Nuu-chah-nulth Indigenous peoples in 1778. 1776 to 1780 (England)

George Vancouver

Dirk Hartog