EUROPEAN DISCOVERIES AND INVENTIONS in the 15th and 16th century

Christopher Columbus

He arrived in the Carribean in 1492 and opened the Americas to later European explorers

Hernan Cortés

In 1519 he landed on the coast of Mexico and defeated the Aztecs inspiring other conquistadores

Francisco Pizarro

In 1513 he discovered the Pacific Ocean and in 1533, inspired by Cortés, he conquested the Incan empire in Perú

Amerigo Vespucci

He first demonstrated in 1502 that Brazil and the West Indies did not represent Asia's eastern outskirts but instead constituted an entirely separate landmass. Colloquially referred to as the New World, it came to be termed "the Americas", a name derived from Americus, the Latin version of Vespucci's first name

Desire and opportunity to get rich

The wanted jewels form India

They wanted gold from Africa

They wanted silk from China

Confidence and arrogance

Leaders of voyages were promised riches and aristocratic titles

Control of new lands and people

Belief in superiority of Christianity

Prince Henry

(NOT AN EXPLORER) Between 1425 and 1460 Prince Henry the Navigator trained Portuguese sailors to go exploring

Vasco da Gama

Between 1497 and 1499 he reached India for the first time and his discovery was significant and opened the way for an age of global imperialism and for the Portuguese to establish a long-lasting colonial empire in Asia

Bartolomeu Dias

He sailed around the southernmost tip of Africa in 1488, the first to do so, setting up the route from Europe to Asia later on

Ferdinando Magellano

He organised the Spanish expedition to the East Indies from 1519 to 1522, resulting in the first circumnavigation of the Earth, completed by Juan Sebastián Elcano.

Mercator projections

Invented in 1569 by Gerardus Mercator

A cylindrical map that really helped the navigators thanks to the lines of longitude and latitude

First globe

Invented in 1492 by Martin Behaim

Only accurate way to study the earth because it correctly represents the shape of it

Published in 1446 by Abraham Zacuto

Astronomical tables that helped with celestial navigation

Small fast ships maneuverable

Larger ships at end of 15th century