Age of Exploration: Period from about 1400 to 1700 when Europeans sailed across oceans Prince Henry the Navigator: Portuguese prince who sponsored voyages along Africa's coast Bartolomeu Dias: First European to sail around Africa's southern tip, 1488 Vasco da Gama: Portuguese explorer who reached India by sea in 1498 Christopher Columbus: Italian sailor who crossed the Atlantic for Spain in 1492 Columbus's ships: The Nina, the Pinta and the Santa Maria Isabella and Ferdinand: Spain's rulers who funded Columbus San Salvador: Island in the Bahamas where Columbus landed in 1492 Columbian Exchange: Movement of plants, animals, people and diseases between the Americas and the Old World Diseases in the Americas: Smallpox and other European illnesses killed many Native people Treaty of Tordesillas (1494): Spain and Portugal divided newly found lands Amerigo Vespucci: Explorer whose first name gave America its name John Cabot: Italian explorer sailing for England who reached North America in 1497 Vasco Nunez de Balboa: First European to see the Pacific from the Americas, 1513 Ferdinand Magellan: Led the first voyage to sail around the world, 1519-1522 Juan Sebastian Elcano: Completed Magellan's voyage after Magellan died in 1521 Strait of Magellan: Passage near South America's southern tip Circumnavigation: Sailing all the way around the world Hernan Cortes: Spanish conquistador who conquered the Aztec Empire in 1519-1521 Francisco Pizarro: Spanish conquistador who defeated the Inca in the 1530s Conquistador: Spanish soldier-explorer who conquered lands in the Americas Ponce de Leon: Spanish explorer who explored Florida in 1513 Hernando de Soto: Spanish explorer who traveled through the southeastern US, 1539-1542 Francisco Coronado: Spanish explorer who searched the Southwest for cities of gold Jacques Cartier: French explorer who explored the St. Lawrence River in the 1530s Samuel de Champlain: Founded Quebec in 1608 Henry Hudson: English explorer who explored the Hudson River in 1609 for the Dutch Northwest Passage: Hoped-for water route through North America to Asia La Salle: French explorer who traveled down the Mississippi in 1682 Marquette and Joliet: French explorers who traveled the upper Mississippi in 1673 Walter Raleigh: English courtier who sponsored the Roanoke colonies Francis Drake: English sea captain who sailed around the world, 1577-1580 James Cook: English navigator who mapped Pacific coasts including New Zealand and Hawaii in the 1700s Abel Tasman: Dutch explorer who sighted Tasmania and New Zealand in 1642 Zheng He: Chinese admiral whose fleets reached East Africa in the early 1400s Ibn Battuta: Muslim scholar who traveled across Africa and Asia in the 1300s Marco Polo: Venetian merchant who traveled in Asia in the late 1200s Leif Erikson: Norse explorer who reached North America about 1000 Viking Vinland: Name the Norse gave to the land they reached in North America L'Anse aux Meadows: Norse site in Newfoundland, proof of an early landing Sacagawea: Shoshone woman who guided Lewis and Clark Lewis and Clark: Explored the Louisiana Purchase and reached the Pacific, 1804-1806 Matthew Henson: Black explorer who traveled with Robert Peary to the Arctic Robert Peary: Led expeditions toward the North Pole in the early 1900s Roald Amundsen: Norwegian explorer, first to reach the South Pole, 1911 Ernest Shackleton: Led the Endurance expedition to Antarctica (1914-1917); all his men survived Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay: First climbers confirmed to reach Mount Everest's summit, 1953 Jacques Cousteau: French ocean explorer who co-invented the Aqualung Neil Armstrong: First person on the Moon, 1969 Sally Ride: First American woman in space, 1983 Mae Jemison: First Black woman in space, 1992 Valentina Tereshkova: First woman in space, 1963 Yuri Gagarin: First human in space, 1961 Gold, God and glory: Three motives often given for European exploration Caravel: Small, fast Portuguese ship used for exploring Astrolabe: Tool for finding latitude using the stars or Sun Compass: Magnetic tool for finding direction Latitude: Distance north or south of the equator Longitude: Distance east or west of the prime meridian Navigator: Person who plans a ship's course Cartographer: Mapmaker Mercator map: 1569 map by Gerardus Mercator, useful for sailors Spice Islands: Islands in today's Indonesia that produced cloves and nutmeg Mercantilism: Idea that colonies exist to enrich the home country Colony: Territory settled and controlled by another country Transatlantic slave trade: Forced movement of millions of Africans to the Americas Potatoes: Crop from the Americas that spread to Europe and fed millions Tomatoes, corn and chocolate: Foods that came to Europe from the Americas Horses in the Americas: Spanish brought horses, which changed life on the Plains Wheat and sugar to the Americas: Old World crops carried across the Atlantic Smallpox: Disease that devastated Native communities after contact Free flashcards from Peabody at peabody.kids/flashcards/world-explorers-age-of-exploration