Curated atlas · History

The Age of Exploration

Sixty years of voyages that connected continents — from rounding the Cape of Good Hope to the conquest of empires and the first circumnavigation of the globe.

61 years

3,172 blocks

23 events

5 stages

1 block = 1 week · 1 row = 52 weeks61y · 3,172 blocks

1485

1495

1505

1515

1525

1535

1545

Stages

Timeline ledger

Chronicle

23 events · 5 stages

Portuguese pioneers

12y 26w

Jan 1, 1485 → Jun 17, 1497

Bartholomeu Dias rounds Cape of Good Hope

Feb 2, 1488

Columbus departs on first voyage

Jul 28, 1492

Columbus reaches the Americas

Oct 6, 1492

Columbus's second voyage

Sep 21, 1493

Treaty of Tordesillas

Jun 7, 1494

Opening of the sea routes

7y 28w

Jun 24, 1497 → Dec 29, 1504

John Cabot reaches North America

Jun 24, 1497

Vasco da Gama reaches India

May 19, 1498

Pedro Cabral claims Brazil

Apr 19, 1500

Amerigo Vespucci confirms 'New World'

Dec 26, 1501

Da Gama's second voyage — force replaces trade

Feb 6, 1502

Caribbean colonization & consolidation

14y 40w

Dec 29, 1504 → Sep 18, 1519

Ponce de León explores Florida

Mar 27, 1513

Jorge Álvares reaches China by sea

May 1, 1513

Balboa sights the Pacific Ocean

Sep 25, 1513

Great expeditions & conquests

16y 17w

Sep 18, 1519 → Dec 26, 1535

Magellan departs on circumnavigation

Sep 18, 1519

Cortés meets Montezuma

Nov 6, 1519

Magellan killed in the Philippines

Apr 21, 1521

Fall of Tenochtitlán

Aug 11, 1521

Victoria completes circumnavigation

Aug 31, 1522

Pizarro captures Atahualpa

Nov 10, 1532

Jacques Cartier explores the St. Lawrence

Jul 19, 1534

Further exploration of the Americas

10y 2w

Dec 26, 1535 → Dec 27, 1545

De Soto explores the American Southeast

May 25, 1539

Coronado explores the American Southwest

Feb 22, 1540

De Soto reaches the Mississippi River

May 8, 1541

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