# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Jacques Cartier - Explorer | Mini Bio | BIO

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Juan Ponce de León | PBS World Explorers | PBS LearningMedia

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Juan Ponce de Leon was famous for his quest for the fountain of youth. But is there more myth than truth to this legend? Learn more about de Leon's journeys to the Caribbean and the Americas.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
René-Robert Cavelier de La Salle | PBS World Explorers | PBS LearningMedia

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
An ambitious explorer, René-Robert Cavelier de La Salle pioneered French exploration in to the new world. Through his efforts, La Salle transformed the few colonies of New France in the Northern portion of the continent in to a more widespread colonial power.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Ferdinand Magellan | PBS World Explorers | PBS LearningMedia

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Ferdinand Magellan was the first person to reach Asia and the Indian Ocean by sailing a westward route through the Americas and across the Pacific Ocean. Magellan's groundbreaking voyage was the first circumnavigation of earth and gave the first true record of the distribution of oceans and continents.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Hernán Cortés | PBS World Explorers | PBS LearningMedia

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Now one of the most remembered conquistadors of all time, Hernán Cortés conquered vast parts of Mexico for Spain. While Cortés brought about the end of the Aztec civilization, his legacy is marred by his brutal treatment of Mexican natives.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Juan Ponce de León (1474 - July 1521) was a Spanish explorer and conquistador born in Santervás de Campos, Valladolid, Spain in 1474. Though little is known about his family, he was of noble birth and served in the Spanish military from a young age. He first came to the Americas as a "gentlemen volunteer" with Christopher Columbus' second expedition in 1493.

By the early 1500s, Ponce de León was a top military official in the colonial government of Hispaniola, where he helped crush a rebellion of the native Taíno people. He was authorized to explore the neighboring island of Puerto Rico in 1508 and was named the first Governor of Puerto Rico by appointment of the Spanish crown in 1509. While Ponce de León grew quite wealthy from his plantations and mines, he faced an ongoing legal conflict with Diego Columbus, the late Christopher Columbus's son, over the right to govern Puerto Rico. After a long court battle, Columbus replaced Ponce de León as governor in 1511. Ponce de León decided to follow the advice of the sympathetic King Ferdinand and explore more of the Caribbean Sea.

In 1513, Ponce de León led the first known European expedition to La Florida, which he named during his first voyage to the area. He landed somewhere along Florida's east coast, then charted the Atlantic coast down to the Florida Keys and north along the Gulf coast, perhaps as far as Charlotte Harbor. Though in popular culture he was supposedly searching for the Fountain of Youth, there is no contemporary evidence to support the story, which all modern historians call a myth.

Ponce de León returned to Spain in 1514 and was knighted by King Ferdinand, who also reinstated him as the governor of Puerto Rico and authorized him to settle Florida. He returned to the Caribbean in 1515, but plans to organize an expedition to Florida were delayed by the death of King Ferdinand in 1516, after which Ponce de León again traveled to Spain to defend his grants and titles. He would not return to Puerto Rico for two years.

In 1521, Ponce de León finally returned to southwest Florida with the first large-scale attempt to establish a Spanish colony in what is now the continental United States. However, the native Calusa people fiercely resisted the incursion, and he was seriously wounded in a skirmish. The colonization attempt was abandoned, and its leader died from his wounds soon after returning to Cuba. Ponce de León was interred in Puerto Rico, and his tomb is located inside of the Cathedral of San Juan Bautista in San Juan.

Early years

Juan Ponce de León was born in the village of Santervás de Campos in the northern part of what is now the Spanish province of Valladolid. Although early historians placed his birth in 1460, and this date has been used traditionally, more recent evidence shows he was likely born in 1474. The surname Ponce de León dates from the 13th century. The Ponce de León lineage began with Ponce Vélaz de Cabrera, descendant of count Bermudo Núñez, and Sancha Ponce de Cabrera, daughter of Ponce Giraldo de Cabrera.

The identity of his parents is still unknown, but he appears to have been a member of a distinguished and influential noble family. His relatives included Rodrigo Ponce de León, Marquis of Cádiz, a celebrated figure in the Moorish wars.

Ponce de León was related to another notable family, the Núñez de Guzmáns, and as a young man he served as squire to Pedro Núñez de Guzmán, Knight Commander of the Order of Calatrava. Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo y Valdés, states that Ponce de León gained his experience as a soldier fighting in the Spanish campaigns that defeated the Moors in Granada and completed the re-conquest of Spain in 1492.

Once the war against the Emirate of Granada ended, there was no apparent need for his military services at home, so, like many of his contemporaries, Ponce de León looked abroad for his next opportunity. In September 1493, some 1,200 sailors, colonists, and soldiers joined Christopher Columbus for his second voyage to the New World. Ponce de León was a member of this expedition, one of 200 "gentleman volunteers."

The fleet reached the Caribbean in November 1493. They visited several islands before arriving at their primary destination in Hispaniola. In particular they anchored on the coast of a large island the natives called Borinquen but would eventually become known as Puerto Rico. This was Ponce de León's first glimpse of the place that would play a major role in his future.

Around 1505, Ponce de León married Leonora, an innkeeper's daughter. They had three daughters, Juana, Isabel and María, and one son, Luis. The large stone house Ponce de León ordered built for his growing family still stands today near the city of San Rafael del Yuma; he named it Salvaleón after his grandmother's estate in Castile.

Images for kids

The ruins of Juan Ponce de León's residence at Caparra

Juan Ponce de León Conquistador monument in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico

In Spanish: Juan Ponce de León para niños

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Christopher Columbus | PBS World Explorers | PBS LearningMedia

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Brilliant explorer? Or violent conqueror? Almost no other explorer inspires as much controversy as Christopher Columbus. Find more about this Italian explorer's historic journey to the Caribbean in 1492.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
John Cabot | PBS World Explorers | PBS LearningMedia

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Five hundred years after the viking exploration of North America, Italian explorer John Cabot became the first known European to reach its mainland. Honing his sailing skills in the Meditteranean, Cabot followed in Columbus's footsteps to explore the Atlantic in search of a route to Asia.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Like many other European explorers, Jacques Cartier went to North America looking for gold, spices, and perhaps a shortcut to Asia. Instead he found the Saint Lawrence River, which became France's main route into Canada.

Jacques Cartier was born in 1491 in Brittany, a province of France. In about 1534, the king of France asked him to lead an expedition to North America.

In the spring of 1534 Cartier sailed across the Atlantic Ocean to what is now Canada. There he and his crew explored the land around the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and encountered Indigenous people. Indigenous people are those who have lived on the land for thousands of years. When he sailed back to France, he took with him two Indigenous people.

A second voyage came in May 1535. This time, Cartier sailed deeper into the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and into the Saint Lawrence River, using the two Indigenous people he had taken before as guides. About 260 miles (420 kilometers) inland, Cartier reached the village of Stadacona. Today, the city of Quebec stands near that place.

Cartier and his men were among the first Europeans to winter in what is now Canada. The bitter cold surprised them, and some of the men died. After returning to France he reported tales told by the Indigenous people of treasures farther inland.

Cartier once again crossed the Atlantic in 1541. He explored further and found what he thought were gold and diamonds. When he returned to France in 1542, he was told that they were just common minerals. After his third voyage Cartier never returned to North America. He died near Saint-Malo, his birthplace, on September 1, 1557.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Like many other European explorers, Jacques Cartier went to North America looking for gold, spices, and perhaps a shortcut to Asia. Instead he found the Saint Lawrence River,...

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Eric the Red and Leif Ericson | PBS World Explorers | PBS LearningMedia

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Five hundred years before the arrival of Christopher Columbus, Eric the Red and his son Leif Ericson explored areas of Greenland and North America. Now regarded as two of the greatest explorers of all time, the Norwegian explorers established settlements across the Atlantic.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The Pizarro Brothers | PBS World Explorers | PBS LearningMedia

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Ruthless and determined, the four Pizarro brothers explored and conquered much of what is now Central and South America in the name of the Spanish Crown. Led by oldest brother Francisco, the brothers overthrew one of the largest empires in the New World, the Inca Empire, brutally enslaving the native population.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The Spanish soldier Hernán Cortés conquered the great Aztec Empire in 1521. The conquest began 300 years of Spanish rule over Mexico.

Hernán Cortés (also called Hernando Cortez) was born in 1485 in Medellín, Spain. At age 19 he sailed for the island of Hispaniola in the West Indies. There he farmed and did legal work. In 1511 he helped Diego Velázquez conquer Cuba. Cortés became mayor of Santiago, the capital.

In 1518 Velázquez asked Cortés to start a colony in Mexico. While exploring the coast Cortés learned about the Aztec Empire. He landed at what is now Veracruz in April 1519. He burned his ships so his men could not turn back.

After defeating the Tlaxcaltec people in battle, Cortés made them his allies. The Tlaxcaltec and other tribes resented Aztec demands for sacrifices and treasure. On November 8, 1519, Cortés marched into the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlán (now Mexico City). The Aztec emperor Montezuma II welcomed Cortés because he thought he was a god of Aztec legend. Cortés quickly seized power.

Meanwhile, the jealous Velázquez sent a Spanish force against Cortés. Cortés defeated them, but while he was away the Aztec regrouped. They drove his forces back. Cortés then rejoined the Tlaxcaltec. He captured Tenochtitlán on August 13, 1521, ending the Aztec Empire.

The king of Spain made Cortés a nobleman. Cortés spent the 1530s in Mexico and explored Baja California in 1534-35. In 1540 he went back to Spain. He died there on December 2, 1547.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The Spanish soldier Hernán Cortés conquered the great Aztec Empire in 1521. The conquest began 300 years of Spanish rule over Mexico. Hernán Cortés (also called Hernando Cortez) was born in 1485 in Medellín, Spain. At age 19 he sailed for the island of Hispaniola in the West Indies.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Juan Ponce de León was an early Spanish explorer of the Americas. He was the first European to visit Florida. He is also famous for his association with the legendary Fountain of Youth.

Ponce de León was born in about 1460 in the Spanish province of León. He may have sailed to the Americas with Christopher Columbus in 1493. In 1502 he helped to conquer the island of Hispaniola, in the Caribbean Sea. In 1508 he founded Puerto Rico 's earliest European settlement. In 1509 he became governor of the island.

In March 1513 Ponce de León left Puerto Rico to continue to search for new lands. He may also have been looking for an island he had heard about. It was said that a spring on this island flowed with water that kept people young. In April 1513 Ponce de León landed on the mainland of North America, though he thought he was on an island. He named the territory Florida.

Ponce de León had landed near what is now Saint Augustine, in the northeastern part of the state. He did not find the spring, so from there he traveled south along the coast. He continued through the chain of islands called the Florida Keys to Florida's west coast. On the way he discovered the Gulf Stream, a warm ocean current that flows northward.

Ponce de León returned to Spain in 1514. The king gave him permission to start colonies in the areas he had visited. In 1521 Ponce de León sailed again to Florida. He was wounded in an attack by Native Americans. His crew took him to Havana, Cuba, where he died.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Juan Ponce de León was an early Spanish explorer of the Americas. He was the first European to visit Florida. He is also famous for his association with the legendary...

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Courtesy of the National Archives of Canada

Jacques Cartier first set sail for the New World in 1534, when King Francis I of France commissioned a voyage to search for gold, spices and a Northwest route to Asia. With two ships and 61 men, Cartier explored the St. Lawrence Bay and returned to France with two Native Americans as trophies for the king. A pleased King Francis sent Cartier back the following year with more ships and a bigger crew. Guided by the same two Native Americans he had seized, Cartier explored the St. Lawrence River as far as modern-day Quebec and established a base near a friendly Iroquois village, where his party camped when winter set in. In September, Cartier led a short expedition to what would become Montreal.

The severe North American winter shocked Cartier's crew, who had expected mild temperatures since Quebec was further south in latitude than Paris. Cartier lost 25 men to scurvy and, when the climate improved, he hastily headed back to France.

War in Europe postponed Cartier's next voyage until 1541, when he was assigned to accompany a nobleman, Jean-François de La Rocque de Roberval, to establish a French colony and counter Spanish North American claims. Though Roberval was delayed for a year, Cartier returned to Quebec and, briefly, to Montreal. But when Cartier's crew settled at a new base north of Quebec, they again aroused the anger of native tribes.

Shortly after another harsh North American winter ended, Cartier gathered what he believed to be an abundant stash of gold and diamonds found by his crew and abandoned the base. He likewise ignored his orders to wait for Roberval and returned to France without him. There, he discovered his "treasure" wasn't treasure at all — it was worthless fool's gold. His colony a failure, Cartier received no further royal charters. In fact, French interest in the New World in general deteriorated after Cartier's mission; it was more than a half-century before France again showed interest in its claims to North America.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Courtesy of the National Archives of Canada Jacques Cartier first set sail for the New World in 1534, when King Francis I of France commissioned a voyage to search for gold, spices and a Northwest route to Asia. With two ships and 61 men, Cartier explored the St.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The French explorer known as the Sieur de La Salle was the first European to travel down the Mississippi River to the Gulf of Mexico. He claimed for France all the land that…

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Samuel de Champlain | PBS World Explorers | PBS LearningMedia

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Known as the father of New France, Samuel de Champlain explored much of what is now Canada. Champlain established the French colonies of Port Royal and Quebec City among others, and utilized the navigable waters of the Great Lakes to link the middle of North American with the trade routes of the Atlantic.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
After the news of Christopher Columbus ' famous trip to the Americas reached England, King Henry VII sent John Cabot to seek new lands for the English. Cabot reached North America in 1497. His landing led England to claim what is now Canada.

Like Columbus, John Cabot was born in Genoa, in what is now Italy, in about 1450. His original name was Giovanni Caboto. By 1461 Cabot had moved to Venice, Italy. During the 1470s Cabot sailed to the eastern part of the Mediterranean Sea as a trader. He visited Mecca, a great trading center in Arabia.

By 1495 Cabot was living in Bristol, England. He believed that he could find a short route to Asia. His plan was to sail north and west across the Atlantic Ocean. In 1496 King Henry VII agreed to the trip. Bad weather, food shortages, and conflicts with his crew forced Cabot to turn back.

The next year Cabot sailed again with a crew of 18 men on the small ship Matthew. On June 24, 1497, the men reached North America. They explored the coast of what is now Canada, in either Newfoundland and Labrador or Nova Scotia. The ship may also have reached what is now the U.S. state of Maine. In August 1497 Cabot returned to Bristol.

The next year the king sent Cabot on another trip. Cabot thought that he could reach Japan by sailing south along the coast he had found. Cabot left England with five ships. One ship stopped in Ireland. The other four ships never returned. Cabot may have reached North America again, or he may have died at sea.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
After the news of Christopher Columbus' famous trip to the Americas reached England, King Henry VII sent John Cabot to seek new lands for the English. Cabot reached North...

# data[].attributes.body
https://www.getepic.com/app/read/51710

# data[].attributes.headline
Standard 2. Explain who the Vikings were and describe evidence of their early encounters with Native Peoples along the North American Atlantic coast.

# data[].attributes.subject
Standard 2. Explain who the Vikings were and describe evidence of their early encounters with Native Peoples along the North American Atlantic coast.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
(1475?–1541). The conquest of Peru by an obscure adventurer is one of the most dramatic episodes in the history of the New World. Until he was nearly 50 years old, Francisco…

# data[].attributes.body
https://www.getepic.com/app/read/32573

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Magellan sailed from Spain in 1519 with five ships. He sailed across the Atlantic Ocean and down the coast of South America. In 1520 he found a passage to the ocean that the Spanish explorer Vasco Núñez de Balboa had first seen in 1513. Magellan named it the Pacific Ocean. The passage, at the southern tip of South America, is now called the Strait of Magellan.

With three ships left, Magellan crossed the Pacific. After about 100 days he reached the islands now called the Philippines. On April 27, 1521, he was killed in a fight with the people of the islands.

After Magellan's death two of his ships continued westward. One ship made it across the Indian Ocean and around the southern tip of Africa. It returned to Spain on September 8, 1522.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Ferdinand Magellan was an explorer from Portugal. He and his sailors were the first Europeans to cross the Pacific Ocean. One of his ships made the first trip around the...

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
John Cabot ( Italian: Giovanni Caboto; c. 1450 - c. 1500) was a Venetian navigator and explorer who in 1497, sailing westward from England in his ship Matthew, he discovered what he thought was Asia. In fact he discovered Canada, which he claimed for King Henry VII. This was the first European exploration of coastal North America since the Norse visits to Vinland in the eleventh century.

For the 500th-anniversary celebrations, the governments of Canada and the United Kingdom designated Cape Bonavista in Newfoundland as the "official" landing place. Here in 1997 Queen Elizabeth II, along with members of the Italian and Canadian governments, greeted the replica Matthew of Bristol, following its celebratory crossing of the Atlantic.

Early years

Giovanni Caboto (his Italian name) was probably born in Genoa about 1450. He was the son of Giulio Caboto and his wife and he had a brother Piero. Gaeta (in the Province of Latina) and Castiglione Chiavarese (in the Province of Genoa) have both been proposed as birthplaces.

Most of his early life was not written about and so much of his history is missing.

When he was still young his family moved to Venice. Venice was a larger seaport than Genoa and at the time was the most important in all of Europe. Growing up there he learned a great deal about sailing and the sea. Cabot became an excellent sailor. His father was a trader and taught Giovanni (John) all about the spice trade.

Cabot married a young woman named Mattea (female form of the name Matthew) about 1482. They had three sons who all sailed with their father. By this time he was a merchant and traveled widely. He and his family moved to the port of Bristol, England about 1490.

Voyage to North America

Cabot was described as having one "little ship", of 50 tons burden, called the Matthew of Bristol (according to the 1565 chronicle). It was said to be laden with sufficient supplies for "seven or eight months". The ship departed in May 1497 with a crew of 18 to 20 men.

He set sail from Bristol. Cabot sailed across the North Atlantic in about seven weeks. During the voyage they saw enormous quantities of Cod fish. Fishermen would soon follow to take advantage of the rich fishing of the Grand Banks of Newfoundland.

It is stated that the expedition made no contact with any native people; crew found the remains of a fire, a human trail, nets and a wooden tool. The crew appeared to have remained on land just long enough to take on fresh water; they also raised the Venetian and Papal banners, claiming the land for the King of England and recognising the religious authority of the Roman Catholic Church. After this landing, Cabot spent some weeks discovering the coast.

On return to Bristol, Cabot rode to London to report to the King. On 10 August 1497, he was given a reward of £10 - equivalent to about two years pay for an ordinary labourer or craftsman.

Final voyage

Once Henry's throne was secure, he gave more thought to Cabot. On 26 September, just a few days after the collapse of the revolt, the King made an award of £2 to Cabot. In December 1497 the explorer was awarded a pension of £20 per year - equivalent to about four years' pay for an ordinary labourer or craftsman. On February 3, 1498 he was given new orders to help him prepare for a second expedition.

Cabot departed with a fleet of five ships from Bristol at the beginning of May 1498, one of which had been prepared by the King. Some of the ships were said to be carrying merchandise, including cloth, caps, lace points and other "trifles". This suggests that Cabot intended to engage in trade on this expedition.

The Spanish envoy in London reported in July that one of the ships had been caught in a storm and been forced to land in Ireland, but that Cabot and the other four ships had continued on.

For centuries no other records were found that relate to this expedition; it was long believed that Cabot and his fleet were lost at sea. It is not known if Cabot died during the voyage, or returned safely and died shortly after.

Legacy and honors

Giovanni Caboto (1762), painting at Ducal Palace, Venice.

Cabot Tower (1897) in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, to commemorate the 400th anniversary of Cabot's voyage.

Cabot Tower, in Bristol, England. A 30-metre-tall red sandstone tower begun in 1897 to mark the 400th anniversary.

Denis William Eden painting: John Cabot and his sons receive the charter from Henry VII to sail in search of new lands (1910), at Houses of Parliament.

Giovanni Caboto Club (est. 1925), an Italian club located in Windsor, Ontario.

A 1952 statue of the explorer is at Bristol's City Hall.

John Cabot University is a United States-affiliated university established in 1972 in Rome, Italy.

A 1985 bronze statue of the explorer by Stephen Joyce, is located at Bristol Harbourside.

A replica of the Matthew of Bristol built to commemorate the 500th anniversary of the 1497 voyage, docked in Bristol.

A second replica of the Matthew is located at Cape Bonavista.

The scenic Cabot Trail in the Cape Breton Highlands is named after the explorer.

John Cabot Academy is an independent school in Bristol, England.

Cabot Ward was an electoral district in Bristol (abolished in 2016), indirectly named for the explorer and directly after the local Cabot Tower.

Cabot Squares in London and Montreal.

Cabot Circus, a 2008 shopping mall in Bristol, named as a result of a citywide poll.

Cabot Street and Cabot Avenue in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador.

A bronze statue of the explorer stands at the Confederation Building, St. John's.

A bronze statue of the explorer is located at Cape Bonavista, Newfoundland. Plaques in English, French and Italian commemorate the historic voyage.

John Cabot Catholic Secondary School in Mississauga, Ontario, is named after the explorer.

Giovanni Caboto park located in Edmonton, Alberta.

The Cabot Institute for the Environment at the University of Bristol is named after him.

In 1897, the Newfoundland Colony issued a postage stamp, and in 1947, the Dominion of Newfoundland issued a postage stamp, marking the 400th and 450th anniversaries of Cabot's voyage to that island, respectively.

Images for kids

In Spanish: Juan Caboto para niños

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Christopher Columbus opened the world of the Americas to his fellow Europeans. Europeans called Vikings had reached the Americas hundreds of years before Columbus first…

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The French explorer Samuel de Champlain traveled along the seacoasts, lakes, and rivers of North America in the early 1600s. Known as the Father of New France, he founded the city of Quebec and encouraged French settlement in what is now Canada.

Champlain was born in 1567 in Brouage, a small French port. His father was a sea captain. Young Samuel learned navigation from him and led voyages to the West Indies and Central America.

In 1603 Champlain made his first visit to New France, the lands the French claimed in North America. He returned in 1604 with a group of settlers who started a colony in what is now Nova Scotia. Though the colony failed, Champlain used his time there to explore the Atlantic coast as far south as what is now Rhode Island.

Champlain sailed to Canada again in 1608 and founded Quebec as a trading post on the Saint Lawrence River. It was the first lasting French settlement in North America. Champlain made friends with the Huron people of the region. In 1609 he traveled south with the Huron to fight the Iroquois in what is now New York. There he came upon the lake that is now called Lake Champlain. In 1615, on yet another trip, he reached Lake Huron. He was the first European known to reach the Great Lakes.

In 1628 the English seized Quebec during a war with the French. Champlain was captured and taken to England. After the war he returned to Quebec. He died there on December 25, 1635.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The French explorer Samuel de Champlain traveled along the seacoasts, lakes, and rivers of North America in the early 1600s. Known as the Father of New France, he founded the...

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Explorers for Kids: Christopher Columbus

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Kids learn about the biography and life of explorer Christopher Columbus. He discovered the Americas for Spain.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Kids learn about the biography of explorer Juan Ponce de Leon including his early life, going to the New World, governor of Puerto Rico, exploring Florida, the Fountain of Youth, and fun facts.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Kids learn about the biography and life of Spanish explorer and conquistador Hernan Cortes. He conquered the Aztec Empire.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Kids learn about the biography and life of explorer Ferdinand Magellan. The first to sail around the world.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Kids learn about the biography and life of Spanish explorer and conquistador Francisco Pizarro. He conquered the Inca Empire.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Leif Eriksson was probably the first European to visit North America. He was a Viking. The Vikings were warriors from northern Europe who traveled far by sea during the Middle Ages.

Leif was born on the island of Iceland sometime before 1000 ce. He grew up on the nearby island of Greenland. His father, Erik the Red, had started a Viking settlement there.

There are two different tales of Leif's North American voyage. According to one tale, he got lost while on a mission to bring the Christian religion to Greenland. He landed on an unknown shore that he called Vinland because he saw grapevines there. Vinland might have been where Nova Scotia, Canada, is today.

According to a second tale, another Viking saw Vinland first and told Leif about it. In about 1000 ce Leif got together a group of explorers. The group reached Vinland and other places as well. Leif called one place Helluland. Helluland might have been the part of eastern Canada that is now called Labrador. Leif named another place Markland. Markland might have been the island of Newfoundland. Many scholars believe the second tale is closer to the truth.

Leif returned to Greenland after his famous voyage. Other Vikings later started settlements in North America. Scientists have found traces of a Viking settlement on the island of Newfoundland. These settlements did not last long, however. They were gone long before the next group of Europeans arrived in the area in the late 1400s.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Leif Eriksson was probably the first European to visit North America. He was a Viking. The Vikings were warriors from northern Europe who traveled far by sea during the Middle Ages. Leif was born on the island of Iceland sometime before 1000 ce. He grew up on the nearby island of Greenland.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Henry Hudson | PBS World Explorers | PBS LearningMedia

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
English explorer Henry Hudson was born at the height of the age of exploration in Europe, as navigators hunted for new routes to Asia. Hudson's multiple voyages to the arctic in search of a Northwest passage eventually set the stage for British colonial dominance in North America.

# data[].attributes.body
https://www.getepic.com/app/read/7728

# data[].attributes.body
https://www.getepic.com/app/read/19900

# data[].attributes.body
https://www.getepic.com/app/read/47327

# data[].attributes.body
https://www.getepic.com/app/read/5920

# data[].attributes.body
https://www.getepic.com/app/read/30419

# data[].attributes.body
https://www.getepic.com/app/read/10513

# data[].attributes.body
https://www.getepic.com/app/read/10510

# data[].attributes.body
https://www.getepic.com/app/read/12376

# data[].attributes.body
https://www.getepic.com/app/read/7730

# data[].attributes.body
https://www.getepic.com/app/read/10514

# data[].attributes.body
https://www.getepic.com/app/read/47330

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
Boats and boating--Equipment and supplies

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Amerigo Vespucci | PBS World Explorers | PBS LearningMedia

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Amerigo Vespucci was the first person to realize that the land across the Atlantic was not Asia, but a new continent. Vespucci explored the South American coast, journeying down to the Amazon river.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Samuel 'Hunterry' de Champlain ( c. 13 August 1567 - 25 December 1635) was a French navigator, cartographer, draughtsman, soldier, explorer, geographer, ethnologist, diplomat, and chronicler. He made between 21 and 29 trips across the Atlantic Ocean, and founded Quebec, and New France, on 3 July 1608. He is called "The Father of New France". He founded Quebec City on July 3, 1608. In 1609 he came to Lake Champlain, which is named for him.

Early Travels

Born in Brouage, France, much of Champlain's early life is unknown, although it is speculated by some that his mother was a Huguenot. His first trip to North America was on March 15, 1603 as part of a fur trading expedition. Although he had no official assignment on the voyage, he created a map of the St. Lawrence River and, on his return to France on September 20, wrote an account of his travels called Des Sauvages (The Savages).

Instructed by Henry IV to make a report on his discoveries, Champlain joined another expedition to New France in the spring of 1604 led by Pierre Du gua Sieur de Monts. He helped found the Saint Croix Island settlement which was abandoned the following spring 1605 when the settlers moved across the Bay of Fundy to found the Habitation at Port-Royal (which had been located with Champlain's assistance), where Champlain lived until 1607 while he explored the Atlantic coast.

In 1605 and 1606 Champlain explored the land that is now Chatham, Cape Cod as a prospective settlement but small skirmishes with the resident Monomoyick Indians ultimately dissuaded him from the idea. He named the area Port Fortune and featured it on his maps.

Founding of Quebec City

The first winter was difficult for the colonists. Of the twenty-five people who stayed for the winter only 8 survived, most having died of scurvy and some of smallpox.

Champlain married Hélène Boullé on 27 December 1610.

Hélène lived in Quebec for several years, but returned to Paris and eventually decided to enter a convent. The couple had 1 child, and Champlain adopted three Montagnais girls named Faith, Hope, and Charity in the winter of 1627-28.

Relations and War with Indians

On July 29, at Ticonderoga (now Crown Point, New York) Champlain and his party encountered a group of Iroquois. A battle began the next day. Two hundred Iroquois advanced on Champlain's position as a native guide pointed out the three Iroquois chiefs. Champlain fired his arquebus and killed two of them with one shot. The Iroquois turned and fled. This was to set the tone for French-Iroquois relations for the next one hundred years.

Securing New France

That fall he returned once again to France to secure a future for his venture in the New World. Having lost the support of the merchants in 1610, he wrote a note to Louis XIII to ask him to intervene on his behalf.

On October 8, 1612, Louis XIII named Charles de Bourbon, comte de Soissons his lieutenant-general in New France. Charles died almost immediately, and was succeeded in the office by Henry II, Prince of Condé. Champlain was given the title of lieutenant and received the power to exercise command in the lieutenant-general's name, to appoint "such captains and lieutenants as shall be expedient," to "commission officers for administration of justice and maintenance of police authority, regulations and ordinances," to make treaties and carry out wars with the natives, and to restrain merchants who did not belong to the society. His duties included finding the easiest way to China and the East Indies, as well as to find and exploit mines of precious metals in the area.

Exploration of "New France"

At the start of the year he published an account of his life from 1604-1612 called Voyages and on March 29, 1613, he arrived back in New France and proclaimed his new commission. Champlain set out on May 27th to continue his exploration of the Huron country and in hopes of finding the 'northern sea' he had heard about (probably Hudson Bay). He traveled the Ottawa River giving the first description of this area. It was in June that he met with Tessouat, the Algonkian chief of Allumette Island, and offered to build them a fort if they were to move from the area they occupied with its poor soil to the Lachine Rapids.

By August 26 Champlain was back in Saint-Malo. There he wrote an account of his journey up the Ottawa river and published another map of New France. In 1614 he formed the "Compagnie des Marchands de Rouen et de Saint-Malo" and "Compagnie de Champlain", which bound the Rouen and Saint-Malo merchants for eleven years. He returned to New France spring of 1615, this time with four Recollects in order to further religious life in the new colony.

In 1615, Champlain is brought through the Peterborough area by Huron. He used the ancient portage between Chemong Lake and Little Lake (now Chemong Road); stayed for a short period of time in Bridgenorth area.

Military Expedition

On September 1, at Cahiagué (on Lake Simcoe), he started a military expedition. They passed Lake Ontario at its eastern tip where they hid their canoes and continued their journey by land. They followed the Oneida River until they found themselves at an Iroquois fort. Pressured by the Hurons to attack prematurely, the assault failed. Champlain was wounded twice in the leg by arrows, one in his knee. The attack lasted three hours until they were forced to flee.

Although he didn't want to, the Hurons insisted that Champlain spend the winter with them. During his stay he set off with them in their great deer hunt, during which he became lost and was forced to wander for three days living off game and sleeping under trees until he met up with a band of Indians by chance. He spent the rest of the winter learning "their country, their manners, customs, modes of life". On May 22, 1616 he left the Huron country and was back in Quebec on July 11 before heading back to France on July 20.

Improving Administration in New France

Champlain returned to New France in 1620 and was to spend the rest of his life focusing on the administration of the country rather than exploration.

On July 19, Champlain was forced to surrender the colony. Many colonists were transported first to England and then to France but Champlain remained in London to begin the process of regaining the colony. It was not until the 1632 Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, however, that Quebec was formally given back to France.

Illness and Death

By October of 1635 Champlain was stricken with paralysis. He died December 25, 1635. He was buried temporarily in an unmarked grave while construction was finished on the chapel of Monsieur le Gouverneur. Unfortunately it was destroyed by fire in 1640 and immediately rebuilt but nothing is known of it after 1640 although after 1674 it no longer existed. As such the exact burial site of Champlain is unknown.

There is no authentic portrait of Champlain. Paintings of Champlain have been shown to be actually of Michel Particelli d'Émery. The only surviving picture we have is an engraving of a battle at Lake Champlain in 1609, but the facial features are too vague to make out.

Many sites and landmarks have been named to honour Champlain, who was a prominent figure in many parts of Acadia, Ontario, Quebec, New York, and Vermont. Memorialized as the "Father of New France" and "Father of Acadia", his historic significance endures in modern times. Lake Champlain, which straddles the border between northern New York and Vermont, extending slightly across the border into Canada, was named by him, in 1609, when he led an expedition along the Richelieu River, exploring a long, narrow lake situated between the Green Mountains of present-day Vermont and the Adirondack Mountains of present-day New York. The first European to map and describe it, Champlain claimed the lake as his namesake.

Memorials include:

Lake Champlain, Champlain Valley, the Champlain Trail Lakes.

Champlain Sea: a past inlet of the Atlantic Ocean in North America, over the St. Lawrence, the Saguenay, and the Richelieu rivers, to over Lake Champlain, which inlet disappeared many thousands years before Champlain was born.

Champlain Mountain, Acadia National Park - which he first observed in 1604.

A town and village in New York, as well as a township in Ontario and a municipality in Quebec.

The provincial electoral district of Champlain, Quebec, and several defunct electoral districts elsewhere in Canada.

Samuel de Champlain Provincial Park, a provincial park in northern Ontario near the town of Mattawa.

Champlain Bridge, which connects the island of Montreal to Brossard, Quebec across the St. Lawrence.

Champlain Bridge, which connects the cities of Ottawa, Ontario and Gatineau, Quebec.

Champlain College, one of six colleges at Trent University in Peterborough, Ontario, is named in his honour.

Fort Champlain, a dormitory at the Royal Military College of Canada in Kingston, Ontario; named in his honour in 1965, it houses the 10th cadet squadron.

A French school in Saint John, New Brunswick; École Champlain, an elementary school in Moncton, New Brunswick; Champlain College, in Burlington, Vermont; and Champlain Regional College, a CEGEP with three campuses in Quebec.

Marriott Château Champlain hotel, in Montreal.

Streets named Champlain in numerous cities, including Quebec, Shawinigan, the city of Dieppe in the province of New Brunswick, in Plattsburgh, and no less than eleven communities in northwestern Vermont.

A garden called Jardin Samuel-de-Champlain in Paris, France.

A memorial statue on Cumberland Avenue in Plattsburgh, New York on the shores of Lake Champlain in a park named for Champlain.

A memorial statue in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada in Queen Square that commemorates his discovery of the Saint John River.

A memorial statue in Isle La Motte, Vermont, on the shore of Lake Champlain.

The lighthouse at Crown Point, New York features a statue of Champlain by Carl Augustus Heber.

A commemorative stamp issue in May 2006 jointly by the United States Postal Service and Canada Post.

A statue in Ticonderoga, New York, unveiled in 2009 to commemorate the 400th anniversary of Champlain's exploration of Lake Champlain.

A statue in Orillia, Ontario at Couchiching Beach Park on Lake Couchiching. This statue was removed by Parks Canada, and is not likely to be returned, as it incorporated offensive depictions of First Nations peoples.

HMCS Champlain (1919), a S class destroyer that served in the Royal Canadian Navy from 1928 to 1936.

HMCS Champlain, a Canadian Forces Naval Reserve division based in Chicoutimi, Quebec since activation in 1985.

Champlain Place, a shopping centre located in Dieppe, New Brunswick, Canada.

The Champlain Society, a Canadian historical and text publication society, chartered in 1927.

A memorial statue in Ottawa at Nepean Point, by Hamilton MacCarthy. The statue depicts Champlain holding an astrolabe (upside-down, as it happens). It did previously include an "Indian Scout" kneeling at its base. In the 1990s, after lobbying by Indigenous people, it was removed from the statue's base, renamed and placed as "Anishinaabe Scout" in Major's Hill Park.

Images for kids

Detail from "Défaite des Iroquois au Lac de Champlain," Champlain Voyages (1613). This self-portrait is the only surviving contemporary likeness of the explorer.

Champlain and guide in Isle La Motte, Vermont, at the site Champlain is said to have first set foot in Vermont (and encamped) in 1609. Lake Champlain is in the background. (Sculptor E.L.Weber, 1967; Photo by Matt Wills, 2009)

Marine astrolabe attributed to Champlain, made in France in 1603, found in Ontario in 1867.

19th century artist's conception of Champlain by E. Ronjat.

In Spanish: Samuel de Champlain para niños

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Learn Samuel de Champlain facts for kids

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle Facts for Kids

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, or Robert de La Salle (November 21, 1643 - March 19, 1687) was a French explorer. He explored the Great Lakes region of the United States and Canada, the Mississippi River, and the Gulf of Mexico. La Salle claimed the entire Mississippi River basin for France.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Ferdinand Magellan (Portuguese: Fernão de Magalhães, Spanish: Fernando de Magallanes) (1480 - April 27, 1521) was a Portuguese explorer.

Magellan is given credit for having given the Pacific Ocean its name. He called it Mar Pacifico, which means "peaceful sea" in Portuguese.

He became the first European to sail the Pacific Ocean, and his crew was the first to sail around the world. Magellan's voyage is said to have proved that the Earth was round.

Magellan was also the first to sail through the Strait of Magellan, so it was named after him. Magellan himself was killed in the Philippines, on April 27, 1521, in Mactan during a battle with the natives after he was accused of stealing.

Charles V of Spain provided him with five ships for the voyage round the world. Only one ship, the Victoria, completed the voyage.

Early life and travels

Magellan was born in 1480. His birthplace is recorded as either Sabrosa or Porto in Portugal. He worked in the royal court.

Since his parents were members of the Portuguese nobility, after their deaths, Magellan became a page for the queen at the age of ten.

In the royal court, he learned many important skills, including cartography (map-making), navigation, and astronomy.

In 1505, when he was 25, Magellan joined the navy. When he worked for Portugal, he went to many parts of the world, such as India, the Spice Islands, East Africa, and Morocco. When in Morocco in 1513, Magellan was wounded, causing him to limp for the rest of his life. After he lost his job for the King of Portugal, he went to work for the King of Spain.

He was married to Beatriz Barbosa and had two children: Rodrigo and Carlos.

Spanish search of the Spice Islands

The aim of Christopher Columbus's voyage to the West was to reach the coasts of the Spice Islands (or the Indies) and to establish trade between Spain and the several Asian kingdoms. The Spanish soon realized after Columbus's voyages that the lands of the Americas were not a part of Asia, but a new continent.

When Magellan arrived at the Court of Spain, he presented King Charles V a plan which would give the ships of the Crown of Castile full access to the lands of the Spice Islands.

On August 10, 1519, five ships under Magellan's command left Seville and traveled west from the Guadalquivir River to Sanlúcar de Barrameda at the mouth of the river, where they remained for more than five weeks. Magellan set sail from Sanlúcar de Barrameda with about 270 men on September 20.

After stopping at the Canary Islands, Magellan arrived at Cape Verde, where he set a course for Cape St. Augustine in Brazil. On November 27, the expedition crossed the equator; on December 6, the crew sighted South America.

Since Brazil was Portuguese territory, Magellan avoided it, and on December 13 anchored near present-day Rio de Janeiro, where they resupplied. They continued to sail south along South America's east coast, looking for the strait that Magellan believed would lead to the Spice Islands. The fleet reached Río de la Plata on January 10, 1520.

On March 30, the crew established a settlement that they called Puerto San Julian.

On April 2, a mutiny involving two of the ship captains broke out, but it was unsuccessful because the crew remained loyal to Magellan. Some of the captains involved in the mutiny were executed; years later, their bones were found by Sir Francis Drake.

The journey resumed. The ship Santiago was sent down the coast on a scouting expedition but was wrecked in a sudden storm. All of its crew survived and made it safely to shore. Two of them returned, traveling on land, to let Magellan know what had happened and to help rescue their comrades. After this experience, Magellan decided to wait for a few weeks more before continuing the voyage.

At 52°S latitude on October 21, the fleet reached Cape Virgenes and they decided they had found the passage because even though they went deep inland, the water was still brine (salty). Four ships began the hard trip through the 373-mile (600 km) passage that Magellan called the Estrecho (Canal) de Todos los Santos ("All Saints' Channel") because the fleet traveled through it on November 1, or All Saints' Day. The strait is now named the Strait of Magellan.

Magellan first assigned the ships Concepción and San Antonio to explore the strait. The San Antonio deserted and returned to Spain on November 20, leaving three ships: Concepción, Trinidad, and Victoria.

Magellan was the first European to reach Tierra del Fuego just east of the Pacific side of the strait.

On November 28, the three ships entered the South Pacific. Magellan named the waters the Mar Pacifico (Pacific Ocean) because it looked so still.

Heading northwest, the crew reached the equator on February 13, 1521. On March 6, they reached the Marianas and Guam. Magellan called Guam the "Island of Sails" because they saw a lot of sailboats. They renamed it to "Ladrones Island" (Island of Thieves) because many of Trinidad' s small boats were stolen there.

On March 16, Magellan reached the island of Homonhon in the Philippines, with 150 crew left, and became the first European to reach the Philippines.

Magellan was able to communicate with the native people because his Malay interpreter, Enrique, could understand their language. Enrique was an indentured servant of Magellan. Magellan and his crew traded gifts with Rajah Kolambu of Limasawa, who guided them to Cebu on April 7.

Rajah Humabon of Cebu was friendly to Magellan, and he and his queen, Juana, even accepted Christianity. Afterward, Humabon and his rival Datu Zula convinced Magellan to go kill their enemy, Lapu-Lapu, on Mactan.

Magellan wanted to convert Lapu-Lapu to Christianity. On the morning of April 17, 1521, Magellan sailed to Mactan with an army of men. During the resulting Battle of Mactan against indigenous forces led by Lapu-Lapu, Magellan was killed.

In his will, Magellan said that Enrique, his interpreter, was to be freed upon his death. However, the remaining ships' masters refused to free Enrique. Enrique escaped on May 1.

Circumnavigation and return

Because so many men died in the Philippines, it left the expedition with too few men to sail the three remaining ships.

On May 2, they abandoned Concepción and burned it to make sure the ship could not be used against them. This left them with two ships, Trinidad and Victoria, that fled westward to Palawan. They left that island on June 21 and were guided to Brunei, Borneo, by Moro pilots who knew how to travel on the shallow seas.

The ships anchored off the shore of Brunei for 35 days, where they saw the splendor of Rajah Siripada's court ( gold, two pearls the size of hens' eggs, etc.). They saw that Brunei also had tame elephants and an armament of 62 cannons, more than 5 times the cannons of Magellan's ships. They also had things such as porcelain and eyeglasses, which were not available or only just becoming available in Europe.

After reaching the Maluku Islands (the Spice Islands) on November 6, 115 crew were left. They managed to trade with the Sultan of Tidore, a rival of the Sultan of Ternate, who was the ally of the Portuguese.

The two remaining ships, packed with valuable spices, tried to return to Spain by sailing west. However, as they left the Spice Islands, Trinidad began to take on water. The crew tried to discover and repair the leak but failed. Victoria sailed ahead, taking the Indian Ocean route heading west for Spain on December 21. The ship was commanded by Juan Sebastián Elcano. Several weeks later, Trinidad departed and attempted to return to Spain by traveling east on the Pacific route. This attempt failed. Trinidad was captured by the Portuguese, and was eventually wrecked in a storm while at anchor under Portuguese control.

By May 6, 1522, the Victoria rounded the Cape of Good Hope, with only rice for rations. Twenty crewmen died of starvation.

On September 6, 1522, Elcano and the remaining crew of Magellan's voyage arrived in Spain aboard the last ship in the fleet, Victoria, almost exactly three years after they departed.

Magellan had not intended to circumnavigate the world. He had only wanted to find a secure way through which the Spanish ships could navigate to the Spice Islands. It was Elcano who, after Magellan's death, decided to push westward and completed the first voyage around the entire Earth.

In total, approximately 232 Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, French, English, and German sailors died on the expedition around the world with Magellan.

Magellan's expedition was the first to circumnavigate the globe and the first to navigate the strait in South America connecting the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.

Magellan's crew observed several animals that were entirely new to European science, including a " camel without humps," which could have been a llama, guanaco, vicuña, or alpaca. They called a penguin a black " goose" that had to be skinned instead of plucked.

Two of the closest galaxies, the Magellanic Clouds, were discovered by crew members in the southern hemisphere. The full extent of the Earth was also realized, since their voyage was 14,460 leagues, or 43,400 mi (69,800 km).

Finally, the need for an International Date Line was established. Upon their return, the crew observed a mismatch of one day between their calendars and those who did not travel, even though they faithfully maintained their ship's log. However, they did not have clocks accurate enough to observe the variation in the length of the day during the journey. News of the mismatched day caused great excitement at the time. People traveled to the Pope to explain this oddity to him.

Ferdinand Magellan quotes

"It is a blessed thing that in every age someone has had the individuality enough and courage enough to stand by his own convictions."

"Let us risk the wildest places, lest we go down in comfort and despair."

"The sea is dangerous and its storms terrible, but these obstacles have never been sufficient reason to remain ashore."

Interesting facts about Ferdinand Magellan

Magellan was ten years old when his parents died.

His father had been the mayor of his hometown and they were members of Portuguese nobility.

Magellan's home country of Portugal considered him a traitor because he left Portugal to begin working for the king of Spain.

Portugal tried to stop Magellan on his trip to the Spice Islands using a different route than Portugal had established.

Magellan's expedition included sailors from many different countries.

There were two mutinies on the expedition.

Magellan is given credit for having given the Pacific Ocean its name. Mar Pacifico means "peaceful sea" in Portuguese.

After Magellan's death, Juan Sebastian Elcano finished the voyage back to Spain, bringing 381 sacks of cloves with him. This was more than the worth of the five ships that left for the Spice Islands.

Images for kids

House where Magellan lived, in Sabrosa, Portugal

Magellan's voyages; the double line represents Magellan's trip from Portugal to the Moluccas. The single line traces his long, continuous voyage from Spain to the Philippines.

Magellan's Cross in present day Cebu

The original image of Santo Niño de Cebú, an image of the Child Jesus given by Magellan to the Cebuanos, now enshrined at the Basilica Minore del Santo Niño

A 1561 map of America showing Magellan's name for the Pacific, Mare pacificum, and the Strait of Magellan, labeled Frenum Magaliani

In Spanish: Fernando de Magallanes para niños

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Amerigo Vespucci was an explorer from Europe. The Americas are named for him though he was not the first European to visit North or South America. He crossed the Atlantic Ocean several years after Christopher Columbus made his first voyage of discovery.

Vespucci was born in 1454 in Florence, Italy. In 1491 he went to live in Spain. There he worked for a company that helped people prepare ships for voyages. Through his work he met Columbus. He helped to gather supplies for the second and third voyages of Columbus.

In about 1499 Vespucci himself set sail on a Spanish ship. He was the navigator, or the person who found the way. He explored the northeastern coast of South America and then returned to Spain. In 1501 Vespucci sailed again, this time on a ship from Portugal. He explored the southeastern coast of South America.

When he got back to Europe, Vespucci wrote about his travels. Unlike Columbus, he did not think he had been to Asia. Instead he described the places he had seen as a "New World."

A German mapmaker named Martin Waldseemüller read Vespucci's writings. In 1507 Waldseemüller made a world map and labeled South America as "America." (Vespucci's first name was also spelled Americus.) Later mapmakers used "America" for North America and Central America as well, even though Vespucci had never been to either place.

After he stopped traveling Vespucci went to work for the Spanish government. He helped to prepare the official map of newly discovered lands and of the routes to them. He died in 1512 in Spain.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Amerigo Vespucci was an explorer from Europe. The Americas are named for him though he was not the first European to visit North or South America. He crossed the Atlantic Ocean several years after Christopher Columbus made his first voyage of discovery. Vespucci was born in 1454 in Florence, Italy.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Spanish Empire

Francisco Pizarro González, Marquess of the Atabillos (; Spanish: [fɾanˈθisko piˈθaro]; c. 16 March 1478 - 26 June 1541) was a Spanish conquistador, best known for his expeditions that led to the Spanish conquest of Peru.

Born in Trujillo, Spain to a poor family, Pizarro chose to pursue fortune and adventure in the New World. He went to the Gulf of Urabá, and accompanied Vasco Núñez de Balboa in his crossing of the Isthmus of Panama, where they became the first Europeans to see the Pacific Ocean from the Americas. He served as mayor of the newly founded Panama City for a few years and undertook two failed expeditions to Peru. In 1529, Pizarro obtained permission from the Spanish crown to lead a campaign to conquer Peru and went on his third, and successful, expedition.

Francisco Pizarro was born in Trujillo, Cáceres, Spain (then in the Crown of Castile) in modern-day Extremadura, Spain. He was the illegitimate son of infantry colonel Gonzalo Pizarro (1446-1522) and Francisca González, a woman of poor means. His date of birth is uncertain, but it is believed to be sometime in the 1470s, probably 1475. Little attention was paid to his education and he grew up illiterate.

On 10 November 1509, Pizarro sailed from Spain to the New World with Alonso de Ojeda on an expedition to Gulf of Urabá in Tierra Firme. Pizarro became a participant in Ojeda's failed colony, commanding the remnants until he abandoned it with the survivors. He sailed to Cartagena and joined the fleet of Martín Fernández de Enciso in 1513.

Early career as Conquistador

On 10 November 1509, Pizarro sailed from Spain to the New World with Alonso de Ojeda on an expedition to Urabá. He sailed to Cartagena and joined the fleet of Martín Fernández de Enciso and, in 1513, accompanied Balboa in his crossing of the Isthmus of Panama to the Pacific. The following year, Pedro Arias Dávila became the newly appointed governor of Castilla de Oro and succeeded Balboa. During the next five years, Pizarro became a close associate of Dávila and the governor assigned him a repartimiento of natives and cattle. When Dávila decided to get rid of Balboa out of distrust, he instructed Pizarro to personally arrest him and bring him to stand trial. Balboa was beheaded in January 1519. For his loyalty to Dávila, Pizarro was rewarded with the positions of mayor (Alcalde) and magistrate of the then recently founded Panama City from 1519 to 1523.

Expeditions to South America

The first attempt to explore western South America was undertaken in 1522 by Pascual de Andagoya. The native South Americans he encountered told him about a gold-rich territory called Virú, which was on a river called Pirú (later evolving to Perú). These reports were relayed by the Spanish-Inca writer Garcilaso de la Vega in Comentarios Reales de los Incas (1609).

Andagoya eventually established contact with several Native American curacas (chiefs), some of whom he later claimed were sorcerers and witches. Having reached as far as the San Juan River (part of the present boundary between Ecuador and Colombia) Andagoya fell ill and returned to Panama. He spread the news and stories about "Pirú" - a great land to the south rich with gold (the legendary El Dorado). These revelations, along with the accounts for Cortés' success in Mexico, caught the attention of Pizarro, prompting a series of expeditions to the south.

In 1524, while still in Panama, Pizarro formed a partnership with a priest, Hernando de Luque and a soldier, Diego de Almagro, to explore and conquer the South. Pizarro, Almagro and Luque later explicitly renewed their compact, agreeing to conquer and divide equally among themselves the empire they hoped to vanquish. While their accord was strictly oral, they dubbed their enterprise the Empresa del Levante and determined that Pizarro would command the expedition, Almagro would provide military and food supplies and Luque would be in charge of finances and additional provisions.

First expedition (1524)

In November 1524, the first of three expeditions left Panama for the conquest of Peru with about 80 men and 4 horses. Juan de Salcedo was the standard bearer, Nicolás de Ribera was the treasurer and Juan Carvallo was the inspector.

Diego de Almagro was left behind because he was to recruit men, gather additional supplies and join Pizarro later. The Governor of Panama, Pedro Arias Dávila, at first approved in principle of exploring South America. Pizarro's first expedition, however, turned out to be a failure as his conquistadores, sailing down the Pacific coast, reached no farther than Colombia before succumbing to bad weather, lack of food and skirmishes with hostile natives, one of which caused Almagro to lose an eye by arrow-shot. The place names the Spanish bestowed along their route, including Puerto Deseado (desired port), Puerto del Hambre (port of hunger) and Punta Quemado or Puebla Quemado (burned port), confirmed their difficulties. Fearing subsequent hostile encounters like the one the expedition endured at the Battle of Punta Quemada, Pizarro ended his first expedition and returned to Panama.

Second expedition (1526)

Two years later Pizarro, Almagro and Luque started the arrangements for a second expedition with permission from Pedrarias Dávila. The governor, who himself was preparing an expedition north to Nicaragua, was reluctant to permit another expedition, having lost confidence in Pizarro. The three associates eventually won his trust and he acquiesced. By this time, a new governor was to arrive and succeed Dávila. Pedro de los Ríos took charge in July 1526 and initially approved Pizarro's expeditions (he would join him several years later in Peru).

On 10 March 1526 Pizarro left Panama with two ships with 160 men and several horses, reaching as far as the Colombian San Juan River. Soon after arriving the party separated, with Pizarro staying to explore the new and often perilous territory off the swampy Colombian coasts, while the expedition's co-commander, Almagro, returned to Panama for reinforcements. Pizarro's Piloto Mayor (main pilot), Bartolomé Ruiz, continued sailing south and, after crossing the equator, found and captured a balsa (raft) under sail, with natives from Tumbes. To everyone's surprise, these carried textiles, ceramic objects and some pieces of gold, silver and emeralds, making Ruiz's findings the central focus of this second expedition. Some natives were taken aboard Ruiz's ship to serve as interpreters.

He then set sail north for the San Juan River, arriving to find Pizarro and his men exhausted from the difficulties they had faced exploring the new territory. Soon Almagro sailed into the port laden with supplies and a reinforcement of at least eighty recruits who had arrived at Panama from Spain with an expeditionary spirit. The findings and excellent news from Ruiz along with Almagro's new reinforcements cheered Pizarro and his tired followers. They decided to sail back to the territory already explored by Ruiz and, after a difficult voyage due to strong winds and currents, reached Atacames on the Ecuadorian coast. Here, they found a large native population recently brought under Inca rule. Unfortunately for the conquistadores, the people they encountered seemed so defiant and numerous that the Spanish decided not to enter the land.

The Famous Thirteen

After much wrangling between Pizarro and Almagro, it was decided that Pizarro would stay at a safer place, the Isla de Gallo, near the coast, while Almagro would return to Panama with Luque for more reinforcements - this time with proof of the gold they had found and the news of the discovery of the obviously wealthy land they had explored. The new governor of Panama, Pedro de los Ríos, had learned of the mishaps of Pizarro's expeditions and the deaths of various settlers who had gone with him. Fearing an unsuccessful outcome, he rejected Almagro's application for continued resources. In addition, he ordered two ships commanded by Juan Tafur to be sent immediately with the intention of bringing Pizarro and his crew back to Panama.

Pizarro had no intention of returning and when Tafur arrived at Isla de Gallo, Pizarro drew a line in the sand, saying: "There lies Peru with its riches; Here, Panama and its poverty. Choose, each man, what best becomes a brave Castilian. For my part, I go to the south."

Only 13 men stayed with Pizarro. They later became known as "The Famous Thirteen" ( Los trece de la fama), while the rest of the expeditioners stayed with Tafur. Ruiz left in one of the ships with the intention of joining Almagro and Luque in their efforts to gather reinforcements. Soon after the ships left, Pizarro and his men constructed a crude boat and journeyed 25 leagues north to La Isla Gorgona, where they would remain for seven months before the arrival of new provisions.

Back in Panama, Pedro de los Ríos (after much convincing by Luque) had finally acquiesced to the requests for another ship, but only to bring Pizarro back within six months and completely abandon the expedition. Almagro and Luque grasped the opportunity and left Panama (this time without new recruits) for La Isla Gorgona to once again join Pizarro. On meeting with Pizarro, the associates decided to continue sailing south on the recommendations of Ruiz's Indian interpreters.

On their return towards Panama, Pizarro briefly stopped at Tumbes, where two of his men had decided to stay to learn the customs and language of the natives. Pizarro was also given two Peruvian boys to learn Spanish, one of whom was later baptized as Felipillo and served as an important interpreter, the equivalent of Cortés' La Malinche of Mexico, and another called Martinillo. Their final stop was at La Isla Gorgona, where two of his ill men (one had died) had stayed. After at least 18 months away, Pizarro and his followers anchored off the coasts of Panama to prepare for the final expedition.

Capitulación de Toledo

When the new governor of Panama, Pedro de los Ríos, refused to allow for a third expedition to the south, the associates resolved for Pizarro to leave for Spain and appeal to the sovereign in person. Pizarro sailed from Panama for Spain in the spring of 1528, accompanied by Pedro de Candia, some natives and llamas, plus samples of fabric, gold and silver.

Pizarro reached Seville in early summer. King Charles I, who was at Toledo, had an interview with Pizarro and heard of his expeditions in South America. The conquistador described the territory as rich in gold and silver that he and his followers had bravely explored "to extend the empire of Castile". The king, who was soon to leave for Italy, was impressed at his accounts and promised his support for the conquest of Peru. Queen Isabel, though, in the absence of the king, signed the Capitulación de Toledo on 6 July 1529, a license document that authorized Pizarro to proceed with the conquest of Peru. Pizarro was officially named the Governor, Captain general, Adelantado and Alguacil Mayor, of New Castile for the distance of 200 leagues along the newly discovered coast and invested with all authority and prerogatives, leaving his associates in secondary positions (a fact that later incensed Almagro and would lead to eventual discord). One of the grant conditions was that within six months, Pizarro should raise a sufficiently equipped force of 250 men, of whom 100 might be drawn from the colonies.

This gave Pizarro time to leave for his native Trujillo and convince his brother Hernando Pizarro and other close friends to join him on his third expedition. Francisco de Orellana joined the group and would later discover and explore the length of the Amazon River. Two half-brothers from his father, Juan Pizarro and Gonzalo Pizarro, and a half-brother from his mother, Francisco Martín de Alcántara, later also decided to join him, as well as his cousin Pedro Pizarro, who served as his page. When the expedition left the following year, it numbered three ships, 180 men and 27 horses.

Pizarro could not raise the number of men the Capitulación required and sailed clandestinely from the port of Sanlúcar de Barrameda for the Canary Island of La Gomera in January 1530. He was there joined by his brother Hernando and the remaining men in two vessels that would sail back to Panama. Pizarro's third and final expedition left Panama for Peru on 27 December 1530.

Conquest of Peru (1532)

In 1531, Pizarro once again landed on the coasts near Ecuador, the province of Coaque and the region of esmeraldas, where some gold, silver and emeralds were procured and then dispatched to Almagro. The latter had stayed in Panama to gather more recruits. Sebastián de Belalcázar soon arrived with 30 men. Though Pizarro's main objective was then to set sail and dock at Tumbes like his previous expedition, he was forced to confront the Punian natives in the Battle of Puná, leaving three or four Spaniards dead and many wounded. Soon after, Hernando de Soto, another conquistador who had joined the expedition, arrived with 100 volunteers and horses to aid Pizarro and with him sailed towards Tumbes, only to find the place deserted and destroyed. The two conquistadors expected that the settlers had disappeared or died under murky circumstances. The chiefs explained that the fierce tribes of Punians had attacked them and ransacked the place.

As Tumbes no longer afforded safe accommodations, Pizarro led an excursion into the interior in May 1532 and established the first Spanish settlement in Peru, San Miguel de Piura, and a repartimiento.

Leaving 50 men back at the settlement under the command of Antonio Navarro, Pizarro proceeded with his conquest accompanied by 200 men on 24 September 1532. After arriving at Zaran, de Soto was dispatched to a Peruvian garrison at Caxas. After a week, he returned with an envoy from the Inca himself, with presents and an invitation to visit the Inca ruler's camp.

Atahualpa's refusal led Pizarro and his force to attack the Inca army in what became the Battle of Cajamarca on 16 November 1532. The Spanish were successful. Pizarro executed Atahualpa's 12-man honor guard and took the Inca captive at the so-called Ransom Room. By February 1533, Almagro had joined Pizarro in Cajamarca with an additional 150 men and 50 horses.

Despite fulfilling his promise of filling one room (22 by 17 feet or 7 by 5 metres) with gold and two with silver, Atahualpa was convicted of 12 charges, including killing his brother and plotting against Pizarro and his forces. He was executed by garrote on 29 August 1533. Francisco Pizarro and de Soto were opposed to Atahualpa's execution, but Francisco consented to the trial due to the "great agitation among the soldiers", particularly by Almagro. De Soto was on a reconnaissance mission the day of the trial and execution and upon his return expressed his dismay, stating, "he should have been taken to Castile and judged by the emperor." King Charles later wrote to Pizarro: "We have been displeased by the death of Atahualpa, since he was a monarch and particularly as it was done in the name of justice."

Pizarro advanced with his army of 500 Spaniards toward Cuzco, accompanied by Chalcuchimac, one of the leading Inca generals of the north and a supporter of Atahualpa, who was subsequently burned at the stake. Manco Inca Yupanqui joined Pizarro after the death of Túpac Huallpa. During the exploration of Cuzco, Pizarro was impressed and through his officers wrote back to King Charles I of Spain, saying: "This city is the greatest and the finest ever seen in this country or anywhere in the Indies... We can assure your Majesty that it is so beautiful and has such fine buildings that it would be remarkable even in Spain."

The Spanish sealed the conquest of Peru by entering Cuzco on 15 November 1533. Jauja, in the fertile Mantaro Valley, was established as Peru's provisional capital in April 1534, but it was high up in the mountains and too distant from the sea to serve as the capital. Pizarro founded the city of Lima on Peru's central coast on 6 January 1535, which he considered to be one of the most important things he had created in life.

By early 1536, Manco Inka, supported by an army of perhaps 100,000 people, initiated a siege of Cuzco. At the same time, smaller Incan expeditionary forces moved to destroy other European strongholds. In the three years of continuous warfare since the arrival of Pizarro, Incan military leaders had become familiar with Spanish military tactics and developed effective counters. Perhaps the most effective of these military innovations was the one that dealt with the Europeans' greatest advantage on the battlefield: horses. Incan soldiers would offer battle but hold their position until the Spaniards had concentrated their cavalry in order to break the indigenous line. They would then fall back before the cavalry charge and draw the Europeans into a canyon where prepositioned forces could crush them under avalanches of rocks and missile weapons. Instead of charging the numerically inferior Europeans as they had done early on, Incan soldiers used their discipline and knowledge of the terrain in order to draw the armoured cavalry charge into a death trap. Well documented battlefield deaths show that many more Spaniards died in these battles than in the early days of the war when theoretically the Inca had a much greater advantage. Despite winning the majority of the battles, the inability of the Incan forces to overwhelm Cuzco's fortifications, manned as they were by only 200 fighting men armed with gunpowder weapons, signalled the definitive victory of Spanish forces.

After the final effort of the Inca to recover Cuzco had been defeated by Almagro, a dispute occurred between Pizarro and Almagro respecting the limits of their jurisdiction, as both claimed the city of Cuzco. The king of Spain had awarded the Governorate of New Toledo to Almagro and the Governorate of New Castile to Pizarro. The dispute had originated from a disagreement on how to interpret the limit between the governorates. This led to confrontations between the Pizarro brothers and Almagro, who was eventually defeated during the Battle of Las Salinas (1538) and executed. Almagro's son, also named Diego and known as El Mozo, was later stripped of his lands and left bankrupt by Pizarro.

Atahualpa's wife, 10-year-old Cuxirimay Ocllo Yupanqui, was with Atahualpa's army in Cajamarca and had stayed with him while he was imprisoned. Following his execution, she was taken to Cuzco and given the name Dona Angelina. By 1538, it was known she had borne Pizarro two sons, Juan and Francisco.

In Lima, on 26 June 1541 "a group of 20 heavily armed supporters of Diego de Almagro II "el mozo" stormed Pizarro's palace, assassinating him and then forcing the terrified city council to appoint young Almagro as the new governor of Peru", according to Burkholder and Johnson. "Most of Pizarro's guests fled, but a few fought the intruders, numbered variously between seven and 25. While Pizarro struggled to buckle on his breastplate, his defenders, including his half-brother Martín de Alcántara, were killed". For his part, Pizarro killed two attackers and ran through a third. While trying to pull out his sword, he was stabbed in the throat, then fell to the floor where he was stabbed many times." He died moments after. Diego de Almagro the younger was caught and executed the following year after losing the battle of Chupas.

Pizarro's remains were briefly interred in the cathedral courtyard; at some later time, his head and body were separated and buried in separate boxes underneath the floor of the cathedral. In 1892, in preparation for the anniversary of Columbus' discovery of the Americas, a body believed to be that of Pizarro was exhumed and put on display in a glass coffin. However, in 1977, men working on the cathedral's foundation discovered a lead box in a sealed niche, which bore the inscription: "Here is the head of Marquess Don Francisco Pizarro who discovered and conquered the kingdoms of Peru and presented them to the crown of Castile." A team of forensic scientists from the United States, led by William R. Maples, was invited to examine the two bodies and they soon determined that the body which had been honored in the glass case for nearly a century had been incorrectly identified. The skull within the lead box not only bore the marks of multiple sword blows, but the features bore a remarkable resemblance to portraits made of the man in life.

By his marriage to N de Trujillo, Pizarro had a son also named Francisco, who married his relative Inés Pizarro, without issue. After Pizarro's death, Inés Yupanqui, whom he took as a mistress, favourite sister of Atahualpa, who had been given to Francisco in marriage by her brother, married a Spanish cavalier named Ampuero and left for Spain, taking her daughter who would later be legitimized by imperial decree. Francisca Pizarro Yupanqui eventually married her uncle Hernando Pizarro in Spain, on 10 October 1537; the third son of Pizarro who was never legitimized, Francisco, by Dona Angelina, a wife of Atahualpa that he had taken as a mistress, died shortly after reaching Spain.

After his invasion, Pizarro destroyed the Inca state and while ruling the area for almost a decade, initiated the decline of local cultures. The Incas' polytheistic religion was replaced by Christianity and much of the local population was reduced to serfdom under the Spanish elite. The cities of the Inca Empire were transformed into Spanish Catholic cities. Pizarro is also reviled for ordering Atahualpa's death despite the ransom payment (which Pizarro kept, after paying the Spanish king his due). Some Peruvians, particularly those of indigenous descent, may regard him negatively, although until relatively recently Pizarro had been portrayed positively, for instance in textbooks, for introducing Catholicism and creating a privileged class of mainly Spanish descent.

Sculptures

In the early 1930s, sculptor Ramsay MacDonald created three copies of an anonymous European foot soldier resembling a conquistador with a helmet, wielding a sword and riding a horse. The first copy was offered to Mexico to represent Cortés, though it was rejected. The statue was taken to Lima in 1934 and re-purposed to represent Pizarro. One other copy of the statue resides in Wisconsin. The mounted statue of Pizarro in the Plaza Mayor in Trujillo, Spain, was created by American sculptor Charles Rumsey. It was presented to the city by his widow in 1926.

The statue long stood an adjacent square to Peru's Government Palace. In 2003, after years of requests for the statue to be removed, the mayor of Lima, Luis Castañeda Lossio, approved the transfer of the statue to another location. Since 2004, however, Pizarro's statue has been in a park surrounded by the recently restored 17th-century walls in the Rímac District. The statue faces the Rímac River and the Government Palace.

Palace of the Conquest

After returning from Peru extremely wealthy, the Pizarro family erected a plateresque-style palace on the corner of the Plaza Mayor in Trujillo. Francisca Pizarro Yupanqui and her uncle/husband Hernando Pizarro ordered the building of the palace; it features busts of them and others. It instantly became a recognizable symbol of the plaza.

The opulent palace is structured in four stands, giving it the significance of the coat of arms of the Pizarro family, which is situated at one of its corner balconies displaying its iconographic content. The building's decor includes plateresque ornaments and balustrades.

Works of Pizarro

"Francisco Pizarro response to a petition by Pedro del Barco", 14 April 1539. From the Collections at the Library of Congress

In Spanish: Francisco Pizarro para niños

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
(1475-1519). The first European to look upon the Pacific Ocean from the shores of the New World was Vasco Núñez de Balboa. The Spanish adventurer and explorer also led a colony in what is now Panama that was the first stable European settlement on the mainland of the Americas.

Balboa was born in 1475 in Jerez de los Caballeros, Spain, into the lower ranks of the nobility. In 1500 he sailed for the Americas on an exploring expedition to what is now Colombia. He later settled on the Caribbean island of Hispaniola. There his unsuccessful attempts at farming led him into debt. In 1510, hoping to escape his creditors, he stowed away on a ship bound for the new colony of San Sebastián, on the northern coast of Colombia.

When the ship arrived at San Sebastián, the expedition discovered that the colony's founder had fled and abandoned the survivors. Balboa persuaded his superiors to transfer the colony to Darién, on the Isthmus of Panama, where the colonists founded the town of Santa María de la Antigua. Balboa soon became the head of the colony.

From local Indians, Balboa learned of a great ocean beyond the mountains and of the gold to be found there. He sent word to Spain that he needed reinforcements to explore the area. In Spain an expedition was organized, but Balboa was not given command. The king instead sent Pedro Arias Dávila as commander and as governor of Darién.

Meanwhile Balboa, without waiting for reinforcements, had set out across the isthmus. It took about 25 days for his party of 190 Spaniards and hundreds of Indians to cross 45 miles (70 kilometers) of dense jungle. On September 29, 1513, Balboa reached the shores of the Pacific Ocean, which he called the South Sea. He took possession of the ocean and all lands washed by it in the name of the Spanish monarch.

When Balboa returned to Darién, conflict arose immediately between him and the new governor. Balboa received grudging permission to explore the South Sea but was then summoned home and arrested on the false charge of instigating a rebellion. He was found guilty and was beheaded on January 12, 1519, in Acla, near Darién.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
(1475-1519). The first European to look upon the Pacific Ocean from the shores of the New World was Vasco Núñez de Balboa. The Spanish adventurer and explorer also led a colony in what is now Panama that was the first stable European settlement on the mainland of the Americas.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Vasco Núñez de Balboa (1475-1519) was a Spanish explorer and conquistador. He was the first European to see the Pacific Ocean.

Balboa was one of those who established the settlement at Darién in what is now Panama. He was elected mayor, then governor.

In 1513, he claimed the Pacific Ocean and all of its shores for Spain. He was searching for gold at the time.

In Darién, he had been replaced by a new governor, Pedro Arias Dávila. On orders from Spain, Dávila was to investigate Balboa. On Balboa's return to Darién in 1519, Dávila had him placed on trial, then executed for treason.

Balboa was born in Jerez de los Caballeros, Spain. He was a descendant of the Lord mason of the castle of Balboa, on the borders of León and Galicia. His mother was the Lady de Badajoz, and his father was the hidalgo (nobleman), Nuño Arias de Balboa. Little is known of Vasco's early childhood except that he was the third of four boys in his family. During his adolescence, he served as a page and squire to Don Pedro de Portocarrero, lord of Moguer.

In 1501 he undertook his first trip with the expedition of Rodrigo de Bastidas through the Caribbean islands that belong to present-day Colombia (Santa Marta, Cartagena and the Gulf of Urabá or Darién), during which the coastline of Colombia and Panama was explored. He then tried to settle in Hispaniola and was a pig farmer for a while, but wasn't good at it and lost his money.

In 1508, Alonso de Ojeda and Diego de Nicuesa created two new governorates in the lands between Cabo de la Vela ( Venezuela) and Cabo de Gracias a Dios ( Nicaragua). The government of the east, which included the coast of Venezuela and Colombia, was called Nueva Andalucía, and the one located to the west (Panama, Costa Rica and Nicaragua), Castilla del Oro.

In 1509 Vasco Núñez de Balboa, was a stowaway on a boat with his dog trying to escape the people who he owed money. The boats expedition was commanded by Martín Fernández de Enciso and he went to meet Alonso de Ojeda, who had founded San Sebastián de Urabá in Nueva Andalucía, leaving a group of men in command headed by Francisco Pizarro.

Shortly after this Balboa was discovered onboard and but he became popular with his shipmates thanks to his charisma and his knowledge of those lands, acquired in the Bastidas expedition.

Later, the regiment moved to Darién, where Núñez de Balboa founded the first permanent establishment in continental America, Santa María de la Antigua del Darién in 1510. He was elected mayor and he sent emissaries to Diego de Nicuesa inviting him to establish himself as governor in Antigua. Nicuesa considered this an intrusion and led a punishment mission, but Balboa defeated him, and Nicuesa was left to his fate on a ship that was lost at sea.

In 1511, Núñez de Balboa obtained the position of governor. He wanted to find the sea that the natives spoke of so he set off on September 25, 1513, which became one of the most relevant explorations in the discovery of America and ended with the discovery of the South Sea, which Núñez de Balboa called the Pacific Ocean.

After the arrival of Pedrarias Dávila, the new governor, Núñez de Balboa undertook the exploration of the Pacific coast.

Upon hearing that his father-in-law was going to be replaced, he returned to Acla to support him, but Pedrarias Dávila accused him of conspiring against the Crown, and the explorer was tried, sentenced to death and executed in Acla.

Although Balboa is remembered as the first European to cross America. Several parks and avenues throughout Panama bear the name "Vasco Núñez de Balboa", and a number of monuments honour his discovery of the South Sea. The Panamanian currency is called the Balboa, and his likeness appears on the obverse of most Panamanian coins. His name is also attached to Panama City's main port, Balboa (the Pacific entrance to the Panama Canal) and the Balboa District within Panamá Province to which the Pearl Islands that he discovered belong. In San Francisco, California, US, Balboa's name appears among a row of avenues which are named after Spanish conquistadors, in the Balboa Park neighborhood, and Balboa High School in the Excelsior District. There is also a large park ( Balboa Park) adjacent to downtown San Diego, California which was named after Balboa in 1910. Balboa's name is also honoured in Madrid with a street and a metro station.

One of the highest orders granted by the Panamanian government to distinguished and outstanding figures, foreign and domestic, is the Orden Vasco Núñez de Balboa, in various degrees, as established by Law 27 from 28 January 1933.

The lunar crater Balboa was named after him.

Balboa appears in the lyrics to "The Great Nations of Europe" by composer/singer Randy Newman.

Vasco Nunez de Balboa was featured on the 1-cent denomination of the Panama-Pacific Exposition of 1913. The 1-cent Balboa paid the one-cent card rate, and it was used in combination with other denominations to meet large weight and foreign destinations. The Bureau of Engraving and Printing issued over 330 million of these to the public.

SENAN's Base Naval Vasco Nuñez de Balboa in Panama City is named for Balboa.

In 2020 Iberdrola commissioned the Núñez de Balboa Photovoltaic Power Plant in Usagre, Badajoz, in western Spain. With 500MW it was the biggest photovoltaic power station in Europe at the time.

In Spanish: Vasco Núñez de Balboa para niños

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Learn Vasco Núñez de Balboa facts for kids

# data[].attributes.headline
 1. Explain how historians studying the European voyages to the Americas use archaeological evidence, maps, illustrations, and texts produced in Europe at the time, and that all of these materials are called primary sources.

# data[].attributes.subject
 1. Explain how historians studying the European voyages to the Americas use archaeological evidence, maps, illustrations, and texts produced in Europe at the time, and that all of these materials are called primary sources.

# data[].attributes.body
Here is a video from Brain Pop. You will need to log in to Brain Pop to access it.

# data[].attributes.body
https://www.getepic.com/app/read/45145

# data[].attributes.body
https://www.getepic.com/app/read/51250

# data[].attributes.body
https://www.getepic.com/app/read/70043

# data[].attributes.headline
We also have multiple copies of this text in the bookroom. 

# data[].attributes.subject
We also have multiple copies of this text in the bookroom. 

# data[].attributes.body
https://www.getepic.com/app/read/43607

# data[].attributes.body
Watch this video on how to use this Padlet!

# data[].attributes.headline
Standard 3. Trace on a map European explorations of North  America and the Caribbean Islands in the 15th and 16th centuries (e.g., voyages of Vasco Nun͂es de Balboa, Jacques Cartier, Cristobal Colon[Christopher Columbus], Ferdinand Magellan, Juan Ponce De Leon, Amerigo Vespucci, Hernán Cortés), evaluate the reasons for the voyages, noting that they were part of an effort by European nations to expand their empires, find new routes for trade with Asia, new opportunities for colonization, and new natural resources; make a timeline of their landings and conquests

# data[].attributes.subject
Standard 3. Trace on a map European explorations of North  America and the Caribbean Islands in the 15th and 16th centuries (e.g., voyages of Vasco Nun͂es de Balboa, Jacques Cartier, Cristobal Colon[Christopher Columbus], Ferdinand Magellan, Juan Ponce De Leon, Amerigo Vespucci, Hernán Cortés), evaluate the reasons for the voyages, noting that they were part of an effort by European nations to expand their empires, find new routes for trade with Asia, new opportunities for colonization, and new natural resources; make a timeline of their landings and conquests

# data[].attributes.body
Additional Resources on European Exploration from the WPS History and Social Sciences Google Site

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Create a new document and edit with others at the same time -- from your computer, phone or tablet. Get stuff done with or without an internet connection. Use Docs to edit Word files. Free from Google.