Explorer Matching

Portuegese prince who did not personally go to Africa, but funded voyages down the west African coast. He invented the caravel (ship) and founded navigation schools that in turn made better sailors.

• Prince Henry the Navigator

• Francisco Pizzaro

• Ferdinand Magellan

• Christopher Columbus

Led an expedition around the Cape of Good Hope, which was the longest oceanic voyage to date.

• Henry Hudson

• John Cabot

• Bartholomeu Dias

• Ponce de Leon

Claimed the Caribbean Islands for Spain, thought he could get to the East by sailing West.

• Vasco da Gama

• Ferdinand Magellan

• Prince Henry the Navigator

• Christopher Columbus

First sailor to lead an oceanic voyage from Europe to Asia. He found the new route Europeans wanted! But, his success was overshadowed by his cruel treatment of the indigenous groups he encountered along the way.

• John Cabot

• Vasco da Gama

• Francisco Pizzaro

• Henry Hudson

Considered to be the first European to reach mainland North America since the Vikings. Claimed parts of North America for England in 1497.

• Prince Henry the Navigator

• Christopher Columbus

• Henry Hudson

• John Cabot

Earliest sailor to realize that he explored new continents. Claimed parts of North and South America for Spain.

• Amerigo Vespucci

• Francisco Pizarro

• Ferdinand Magellan

• Ponce de Leon

Claimed present-day Florida for Spain in 1513. He was part of Columbus's crew on his second voyage in 1493.

• Francisco Pizzarro

• Henry Hudson

• Ponce de Leon

• Vasco da Gama

First European to see the Pacific Ocean from the Americas in 1513. He was accused of treason by a rival and subsequently beheaded, but he was likely innocent.

• Christopher Columbus

• Bartholomeu Dias

• Vasco da Gama

• Vasco Nunez de Balboa

First to sail around the world. Died by a poisoned arrow in the Philippines in the middle of his journey, but since 1 of his 5 ships was able to make it home, he gets credit.

• Vasco Nunez de Balboa

• Ferdinand Magellan

• Vasco da Gama

• Bartholomeu Dias

Considered a founding father of New York and Canada. He wanted to find the "Northwest Passage" - a hypothetical ocean passage from the Pacific to the Atlantic - but it didn't exist! His crew mutinied and left him, his son, and a few others stranded in a small boat. He was never heard from again.

• Henry Hudson

• John Cabot

• Bartholomeu Dias

• Ferdinand Magellan