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Explorer
Explorer
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325 BC |
Pytheas (c380BC-310BC), Greek merchant, geographer and explorer, made a voyage of exploration to northwestern Europe around this time. He traveled around Great Britain, circumnavigating it between 330 and 320 BCE. He claimed to have sailed past Scotland and mentioned a land called Thule, where the surrounding ocean froze and the sun disappeared in winter. Links: Britain, Greece, Scotland, Explorer 
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310 BC |
Pytheas (b.c380BC), Greek merchant, geographer and explorer, died about this time. He made a voyage of exploration to northwestern Europe around 325 BCE. He traveled around a considerable part of Great Britain, circumnavigating it between 330 and 320 BCE. Links: Britain, Greece, Explorer
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1275 1292 |
Marco Polo left Italy for China. He lived there during the reign of Kubla Khan and learned about pasta, sherbet, and paper currency. During this time Marco Polo visited Hangzhou, called Kinsay in his writings, and described it as the finest and noblest city in the world. Links: Italy, China, Explorer
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1324 Jan 9 |
Venetian traveler, merchant and writer Marco Polo, preparing for his final journey, summoned a priest-notary to his home in Venice and recorded his will in Latin on a sheepskin. Polo left money to Church institutions in Venice, forgave outstanding debts, and freed his indentured servant, a Tatar he had named Peter. Polo left nearly everything else to his wife and three daughters. Links: Italy, Venice, Explorer
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1405 |
Admiral Zheng He, a Muslim eunuch, led a Ming dynasty fleet with 28,000 men through Southeast Asia to India and on to Africa and the Middle East. From 1405 to 1433 Zheng He led 7 voyages to promote trade and recognition of the Ming dynasty. Links: China, India, Kenya, Explorer
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1418 |
In China a book was published about this time titled “The Marvelous Visions of the Star Raft.” It documented some of the exploits of Admiral Zheng He, who roamed the oceans from 1405-1435. Links: China, Books, Explorer
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1488 Jan |
Bartolomeu Dias, Portuguese explorer, rounded Africa’s southern cape and put to shore to take on food and water. There he found a group of smaller and lighter-skinned Africans, commonly known as the San, who chased his men back with arrows. Links: Portugal, Africa, Explorer
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1493 Feb |
Christopher Columbus penned a letter to Spain's monarchs, four months after discovering the New World, describing what he had found and laying the groundwork for his request to fund another voyage. A Latin copy was printed in Rome by Stephan Plannack in 1493, and found its way into the Vatican Library. This was later stolen by book thief Marino Massimo De Caro and sold in 2014 to American collector David Parsons for $875,000. In 2018 it was returned to the Vatican. Links: Spain, Vatican, Explorer
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1493 Nov 11 |
The island of St. Martin was sighted and named by Columbus, though the explorer never landed there. The Dutch and French agreed to divide control of the island in 1648, but often clashed over where the border should be until a final pact in 1817. Links: Spain, France, Netherlands, St. Martin, Explorer, St. Maarten
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1493 Nov 12 |
Christopher Columbus discovered the island of Redonda during his second expedition. It was about 34 miles WSW of Antigua. Links: Antigua, Explorer
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1499 |
Portuguese briefly explored and claimed Greenland, naming it Terra do Lavrador (later applied to Labrador in Canada). Links: Portugal, Greenland, Explorer
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1502 Jan 1 |
Guanabara Bay was first encountered by Europeans when one of the Portuguese explorers Gaspar de Lemos and Goncalo Coelho arrived on its shores. Guanabara Bay is an oceanic bay located in southeastern Brazil in the state of Rio de Janeiro. On its western shore lies the city of Rio de Janeiro, and on its eastern shore the cities of Niteroi and Sao Goncalo. Links: Brazil, Portugal, Explorer
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1502 Feb 12 |
Vasco da Gama, Portuguese explorer, departed on a second trip to India with 20 well-armed ships. Links: Portugal, India, Explorer
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1502 Jul |
Columbus reached the northern coast of Honduras during his 4th voyage and passed south to Panama. Links: Honduras, Explorer
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1502 |
Jaoa de Nova, Portuguese explorer, discovered St. Helena Island. It became a way station for ships for centuries and was a key port for Britain's East India Company. Links: Portugal, Explorer, St. Helena
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1508 Aug 12 |
Ponce de Leon arrived and conquered the island of Boriquen (Puerto Rico). Spain had appointed him to colonize Puerto Rico. He explored Puerto Rico and Spanish ships under his command began to capture Bahamanian Tainos to work as slaves on Hispaniola. His settlement at Caparra, 2 miles south of San Juan Bay, was plagued by Taino Indians and cannibalistic Carib Indians. Links: Spain, Puerto Rico, Explorer
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1512 Feb 22 |
Amerigo Vespucci (b.1454), Italian explorer, financier, navigator, and cartographer, died in Seville. He was born in the Republic of Florence and sailing for Portugal around 1501–1502, demonstrated that Brazil and the West Indies were not Asia's eastern outskirts (as initially conjectured from Columbus' voyages) but a separate, unexplored land mass colloquially known as the New World. In 1507, the new continent was named America after the Latin version of Vespucci's first name. Links: Italy, Spain, Explorer
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1515 |
Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de Leon first described the Gulf Stream. In 1770 Benjamin Franklin drew a map of the Gulf Stream and in 1786 described it in detail in Transactions of the American Philosophical Society. In 2008 Stan Ulanski authored “The Gulf Stream: Tiny Plankton, Giant Bluefin, and the Amazing Story of the Powerful River in the Atlantic.” Links: Spain, Explorer
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1521 Mar 16 |
Ferdinand Magellan discovered the Philippine Islands, where he was killed by natives the following month [see Apr 27]. Links: Portugal, Philippines, Explorer
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1521 Apr 27 |
Ferdinand Magellan (41) was killed in a fight with natives on Mactan Island. Juan Sebastian Elcano, Magellan’s second in command, returned to Spain with 18 men and one ship, the Vittorio, laden with spices. His coat of arms was augmented in reward with the inscription Primus circumdisti me: “You were the first to encircle me.” Some 50,000 Chamorro people populated the islands. Links: Portugal, Philippines, Explorer
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1522 Sep 6 |
Juan Sebastian Elcano (Del Cano), Magellan’s second in command, returned to Spain with 18 men and one ship, the Vittorio, laden with spices. His coat of arms was augmented in reward with the inscription: Primus circumdisti me: "You were the first to encircle me." 18 survivors of the original Magellan expedition completed the circumnavigation of the globe under Sebastian del Cano. Plumes of the bird of paradise from New Guinea were first brought back to Europe. One of the five ships that set out in Ferdinand Magellan's trip around the world made it back to Spain. Only 15 of the original 265 men that set out survived. Magellan was killed by natives in the Philippines. Links: Spain, Explorer
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1527 |
Don Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca, a Spanish soldier, was appointed 2nd in command under Panfilo de Narvaez (47), to explore the recently discovered land of Florida. Links: Spain, Florida, Explorer
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1541 May |
The expedition of Francisco Vasquez de Coronado, having crossed the high plains of Texas, feasted on game and held a Mass of thanksgiving. Links: Spain, USA, Texas, Explorer
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1541 Aug 23 |
Jacques Cartier landed near Quebec on his third voyage to North America and established a short-lived community there. Links: Canada, France, Explorer
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1542 Nov |
Spanish explorer Juan Cabrillo landed at the Channel Island later known as San Miguel. His men soon got into a scuffle with local Indians and Cabrillo broke a leg. The party continued to sail north almost to present day Fort Ross. Links: Spain, California, Explorer
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1543 Jan 3 |
Spanish explorer Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo (43-44) died of gangrene and was buried at San Miguel. He was injured in December while helping defend his men fight off a band of Indians in the Channel Islands off California. In 1989 Harry Kelsey authored the biography “Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo.” Links: Spain, California, Explorer, Biography
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1568 Apr 16 |
The first recorded sighting of Tulagi Island by Europeans was by the Spanish expedition of Álvaro de Mendaña. More precisely the sighting was due to a local voyage done by a small boat, in the accounts the brigantine Santiago, commanded by Maestre de Campo Pedro Ortega Valencia and having Hernán Gallego as pilot. Links: Spain, Explorer, Solomon Islands
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1577 |
Francisco Hernandez, Spanish explorer traveling through Mexico’s highlands, noted the many uses of the maguey (agave) plant. He cited it as a useful fuel, a material for cloth and ropes, with sap used to make vinegar and wine. Links: Spain, Mexico, Food, Wine, Explorer
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1585 Jun 7 |
English sea captain John Davis set sail from Dartmouth with 2 ships to search for a Northwest passage linking the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Links: Britain, Explorer
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1586 May 7 |
English sea captain John Davis set sail from Dartmouth with 3 ships in a 2nd attempt to find a Northwest passage linking the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. When Davis returned in October he learned that one ship, the North Star, had been lost with all hands in a gale near the coast of Ireland. Links: Britain, Explorer
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1587 May 19 |
English sea captain John Davis set sail from Dartmouth with 3 ships in a 3rd unsuccessful attempt to find a Northwest passage linking the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. 2 ships spent the journey fishing and managed to cover expenses. Links: Britain, Explorer
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1594 |
Willem Barents, Dutch explorer, sailed to the Arctic pursuing the dream of a warm northern ocean first posited by the Greeks. Links: Arctic, Netherlands, Explorer
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1596 Sep |
Willem Barents, Dutch explorer, and his crew resigned themselves to overwintering in the Arctic after their ship froze fast. 13 of 17 men survived an 8-month ordeal. In 2021 Andrea authored "Icebound: Shipwrecked at the Edge of the World," an account of Barents' three missions to the Arctic. Links: Arctic, Netherlands, Explorer
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1597 Jun 20 |
Willem Barents, Dutch explorer who discovered Spitsbergen & Bereneil, died at sea. In 1995 Rayner Unwin authored “A Winter Away from Home,” an account of Barents’ Arctic voyages. Links: Arctic, Netherlands, Explorer
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1603 Jul 17 |
Sir Walter Raleigh (1552-1618) was arrested. He was prosecuted by Sir Edward Coke. James I suspended his death sentence and had him incarcerated in the Tower of London for 13 years during which time he wrote his "History of the World." Links: Britain, Explorer
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1605 Dec 27 |
English sea captain John Davis was killed by Japanese pirates whose ship he had captured off the coast of Sumatra. In 1889 Clements Markham authored “A Life of John Davis, the Navigator, 1550-1605, Discoverer of Davis Straits.” Links: Britain, Japan, Explorer, Biography
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1609 Sep 12 |
English explorer Henry Hudson sailed his ship, the Half Moon, into the river that later took his name. Hudson sailed for the Dutch East India Company in search of the Northwest Passage, a water route linking the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Links: Britain, Netherlands, NYC, Explorer
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1631 Jun 21 |
John Smith (baptized. 6 January 1580), English soldier, died. He was an explorer, colonial governor, Admiral of New England, and author and played an important role in the establishment of the colony at Jamestown, Virginia, the first permanent English settlement in America in the early 17th century. He was a leader of the Virginia Colony between September 1608 and August 1609, and he led an exploration along the rivers of Virginia and the Chesapeake Bay, during which he became the first English explorer to map the Chesapeake Bay area. Later, he explored and mapped the coast of New England. Links: Britain, Virginia, Explorer
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1635 Dec 25 |
Samuel de Champlain (b.1575), French navigator and founder of Quebec City, died in Quebec. In 2008 David Hackett Fischer authored “Champlain’s Dream.” Links: Canada, USA, France, Explorer
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1722 Apr 5 |
On Easter Sunday Dutch explorer Jacob Roggeveen discovered a Polynesian Island 1400 miles from the coast of South America and named it Easter Island. He noted that the island was treeless and wondered how its massive statues were erected. Much of the population was later wiped out and the island became a possession of Chile. An indigenous script called rongorongo survived but by 2002 was still not deciphered. In 2005 Steven Roger Fischer authored “Island at the End of the World: The Turbulent History of Easter Island.” Links: Chile, Netherlands, Polynesia, Explorer
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1722 |
Legend has it that the Arkansas “Little Rock” rock was first discovered at this time by the French explorer Jean Baptiste Benard de La Harpe. It was the first outcropping of any size on a 118-mile stretch of the Arkansas River. Links: USA, France, Arkansas, Explorer
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1725 |
Czar Peter the Great chose Vitus Bering (44), a Danish seaman in the Russian navy, to lead an expedition to discover whether or not Asia was connected to America. Links: Russia, Denmark, Explorer
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1728 Oct 27 |
Captain James Cook (d.1779), explorer, was born in a small village near Middlesbrough, Yorkshire. His discoveries included the Sandwich Islands (Hawaii). Links: Britain, Hawaii, Explorer
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1728 |
Vitus Bering (47), Danish explorer in the Russian navy, discovered the Bering Strait between Asia and North America. Links: Russia, USA, Denmark, Alaska, Explorer
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1732 Apr 17 |
The 2nd Kamchatka Expedition was announced in the Russian Senate and Vitus Bering was named as captain commander. I.K. Kirilov, chief secretary of the senate, expanded Bering’s mandate to include astronomical and scientific observations, to explore the seas between Siberia and Japan and to establish trade relations with peoples encountered. Links: Russia, Japan, Denmark, Siberia, Explorer
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1741 Jul 15 |
George Steller, an observer with Vitus Bering (1680-1741), claimed to see the American mainland (Alaska). Bering, a Danish-born mariner, was on an exploratory mission on behalf of Russia. Links: Russia, USA, Denmark, Alaska, Explorer
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1741 Dec 8 |
Vitus Bering, Danish-born explorer and commander in the Russian navy, died on an island off the Kamchatka Peninsula, later named Bering Island. Links: Russia, Denmark, Explorer
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1767 |
British explorer Jonathan Carver described petroglyph images of snakes and buffalo near a cave at bluffs in Minnesota called Wakan Tipi by the Dakota people. The area later became part of St. Paul. Links: Britain, Minnesota, AmerIndian, Explorer, Reptile
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1769 Jul 14 |
Don Gaspar de Portola led 63 men north from San Diego in search of Monterey and arrived there in late September. Links: California, SF Bay Area, Explorer
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1769 Oct 30 |
Captain Portola and his party camped at what is now Linda Mar Beach, Pacifica. They climbed the ridge above Linda Mar and saw the Farallon Islands as well as the cliffs of Point Reyes. Portola camped in San Pedro Valley and sent Sergeant Jose Ortega out to survey what was ahead. Links: California, SF Bay Area, Explorer
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1775 Aug 5 |
Spanish Lieutenant Juan Manuel de Ayala and his crew of 30 became the first European explorers to sail into the San Francisco Bay. He anchored at Angel Island and waited for the overland expedition of Captain Juan Bautista de Anza. Angel Island was one of the first landforms named by the Spanish when they entered SF Bay. The 58-foot Spanish fregata, Punta de San Carlos, was the first sailing vessel to enter the SF Bay while on a voyage of exploration. Ayala named Alcatraz Island after a large flock of pelicans, called alcatraces in Spanish. Links: Spain, SF, SF Bay Area, Explorer
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1775 Sep 29 |
Mexican Captain Juan Bautista de Anza (39) and his party of Spanish soldiers and setters departed Tubac, Arizona, on a journey to the SF Bay Area following reports of a great river flowing into the bay. Anza led 240 soldiers, priests and settlers to Monterey. Jose Manuel Valencia was one of the soldiers. His son, Candelario Valencia, later served in the military at the Presidio and owned a ranch in Lafayette and property next to Mission Dolores. One of the soldiers was Don Salvio Pacheco. Links: California, Mexico, SF, Arizona, SF Bay Area, Explorer
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1776 Mar 10 |
The expedition of Spanish explorer Juan Bautista de Anza arrived in Monterey, Ca. Colonists were left in Monterey as a smaller party departed for the SF Bay. Links: Spain, California, Explorer
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1776 Mar 27 |
Mexican Captain Juan Bautista de Anza and his party of Spanish explorers spent their first night in the future city of San Francisco at what came to be called Mountain Lake in the Presidio. Links: Spain, Mexico, SF, Explorer
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1776 Mar 28 |
Mexican Captain Juan Bautista de Anza, Lt. Jose Moraga, and Franciscan priest Pedro Font arrived at the tip of San Francisco. De Anza planted a cross at what is now Fort Point. They camped at Mountain Lake and searched inland for a more hospitable area and found a site they called Laguna de los Dolores or the Friday of Sorrows since the day was Friday before Palm Sunday. Anza became known as the “father of SF.” Mission Dolores was founded by Father Francisco Palou and Father Pedro Cambon. Rancho San Pedro, near what is now Pacifica, served as the agricultural center. Laguna de los Dolores was later believed to be a spring near the modern-day corner of Duboce and Sanchez. Links: California, Mexico, SF, SF Bay Area, Explorer
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1776 Jul 14 |
Jemima Boone (13), the daughter of Daniel Boone, and 2 friends were kidnapped by a group of 5 Shawnee and Cherokee Indians near Boonesborough, Kentucky. They were rescued on July 16 by Daniel Boone and 7 other Boonesborough men. Links: USA, Kentucky, Explorer
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1778 Mar 7 |
Capt. James Cook 1st sighted the Oregon coast and named Perpetua Cape in honor of St. Perpetua’s Day. Links: Britain, USA, Oregon, Explorer
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1786 Sep 14 |
Two French ships appeared off the coast of Monterey, the first foreign vessels to visit Spain's California colonies. Aboard was a party of eminent scientists, navigators, cartographers, illustrators, and physicians. For the next ten days Jean Francois de La Pérouse, the commander of this expedition, took detailed notes on the life and character of the area. Perouse’s notes were later published under the title “Life in a California Mission: Monterey in 1786: The Journals of Jean Francois De LA Perouse.” Links: France, California, Explorer
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1796 Jul |
Mungo Park, Scottish surgeon, reached the Niger River at Segou, (Mali). Mansong, the African chief at Segou, gave Park enough money to return to the coast. Park described his journey in his book: "Travels in the Interior Districts of Africa" (1799). Links: Mali, Scotland, Books, Explorer
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1804 Aug 31 |
Lewis and Clark held a council with local Sioux Indian chiefs in what is now eastern North Dakota. Links: USA, North Dakota, AmerIndian, Explorer
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