United States
HISTORY

European Exploration and Settlement in the New World

Most Popular Searches

Start Your Visit With Historical Timelines Chronological Eras Information Tables General Interest Maps Glossary History Quizzes

Travel and History Blog Share

Despite the common belief that Christopher Columbus was the first European discover of the New World, it is far more likely that Leif (or Leiv) Erikson (or Eriksson or Ericson) sailed west from Greenland around the year 1000 and landed somewhere in present-day Canada, probably the coast of Labrador. However, no permanent settlement ensued and the discovery was largely forgotten.

The first European to discover America and remember was Christopher Columbus. As an Italian by birth, his name would have been Colombo then, and his Spanish sponsors would have called him Colon. For English speakers, his last name has been latinized.

Date	Explorer	Representing	Event
c. 1000	Leif Eriksson	Norse	Likely first European to Newfoundland
1418	(Prince Henry the Navigator)	Portugal	Offers training in navigation & cartography
1431	Gonzalo Cabral	Portugal	Discovered Azores
1440s	various	Portugal	Exploration along west African coast; slave trade
1453	(Fall of Constantinople)		Muslim closure of eastward routes may have spurred westward push.
1487-88	Bartholomeu Dias	Portugal	Reached Cape of Good Hope
1492	Christopher Columbus	Spain	First voyage
1494	(Treaty of Tordesillas)		Division of New World between Spain and Portugal
1497	John Cabot	England	To Newfoundland; English claim to North America
1497-98	Vasco da Gama	Portugal	Rounds Africa to India
1497+	Amerigo Vespucci	Spain Portugal	West Indies and South America
1500-01	Pedro Álvarez Cabral	Portugal	Brazil
1513	Ponce de Léon	Spain	Florida
1513	Vasco Núñez de Balboa	Spain	Crossed Panama to Pacific Ocean
1519-22	Ferdinand Magellan	Spain	Circumnavigation of world completed by crew
1519+	Hernán Cortés	Spain	Conquered Aztecs in Mexico
1524-25	Giovanni da Verrazzano	France	Searched for Northwest Passage
1526	Lucas Vazquez Ayllon	Spain	Temporary settlement in in the Carolinas
1528-36	Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca	Spain	From Gulf of Mexico into Texas
1532+	Francisco Pizarro	Spain	Conquered Incas in Peru
1535	Jacques Cartier	France	Gulf of St. Lawrence; established French claim to North America
1539-42	Hernando De Soto	Spain	Southeastern U.S. and Mississippi River
1540	Francisco Coronado	Spain	Northern Mexico and southwestern U.S.
1542	Juan Rodriquez Cabrillo	Spain	California
1565	Don Pedro Menendez de Aviles	Spain	St. Augustine founded
1576-78	Sir Martin Frobisher	England	Search for Northwest Passage
1577-80	Sir Francis Drake	England	First English circumnavigation
1585+		England	Roanoke “Lost Colony”
1598+	Juan de Oñate	Spain	Settlement in New Mexico
1602	Bartholomew Gosnold	England	Explored New England coast
1603-15	Samuel de Champlain	France	Quebec, Great Lakes and Lake Champlain
1607		England	Jamestown founded
1609+	Henry Hudson	Netherlands England	Dutch claim to New York area; explored Hudson Bay
1620		England	Pilgrims arrive at Cape Cod
1630		England	Puritans arrive at Massachusetts Bay
1673	Louis Joliet Jacques Marquette	France	Explored upper Mississippi Basin
1679	Sieur de La Salle	France	Explored upper Mississippi and Lake Michigan areas
1698+	Sieur de Bienville	France	Founded New Orleans; explored Mississippi Valley
1699+	Sieur d’Iberville	France	First to enter Mississippi River from Gulf of Mexico

---

See First Contact and Indian Wars Time Table.
See also Native American Cultural Regions map