1492 Columbus sails to the New World.
1497 John Cabot discovers Newfoundland while he searches for the Northwest Passage.
1497 Vasco da Gama sails to India and back.
1502 Amerigo Vespucci returns from his explorations of the New World. American continents named after him by German mapmaker.
1513 Vasco Nunez de Balboa discovers the eastern shore of the Pacific Ocean.
1519 Ferdinand Magellan and his crew sail around the world from 1519-1522