History: Great Explorers

Today I am busy compiling a presentation on Famous Explorers.

There are soo many of them.

Here is a list of European Explorers from 1200 - 1700

Names	Nationality	Lifespan	Famous Voyage of Exploration
1.        Marco Polo	Italian	1254 - 1324	Exploration of China and Asia
2.        John Cabot	Italian / English	1450 - 1499	Exploring coastline of Canada / subsequent colonization of Canada. Cabot was 2nd famous explorer to find North America (after Christopher Columbus)
3.        Gaspar Corte Real	Portuguese	1450 - 1501	Exploration of Greenland / the coast of Newfoundland by this famous explorer
4.        Christopher Columbus	Italian / Spanish	1451 - 1506	Discovery of New World by this famous explorer
5.        Amerigo Vespucci	Italian / Spanish	1454 - 1512	America was named after this famous explorer
6.        Bartolomeu Dias	Portuguese	1457 - 1500	The first European explorer to lead a 1487 voyage around the Cape of Good Hope on the Southern most tip of South Africa
7.        Juan Ponce de Leon	Spanish	1460 - 1521	First European explorer to set foot in Florida
8.        Pedro Alvares Cabral	Portuguese	1467 - 1520	The first European (Portuguese) explorer to see Brazil in 1500
9.        Vasco da Gama	Portuguese	1469 - 1524	Discovery of an ocean route from Portugal to the East by this famous explorer
10.     Panfilo de Narvaez	Spanish	1470 - 1528	Exploration of Cuba leading an ill fated expedition to Florida / North America
11.     Sebastian Cabot	Italian / English	1474 - 1557	Son of famous explorer John Cabot. Searching for NW passage across North America, attempted to circumnavigate world - making expeditions to Russia
12.     Vasco Nunez de Balboa	Spanish	1475 - 1519	First famous European explorer to see the Pacific Ocean from its eastern shore
13.     Lucas Vazquez de Ayllon	Spanish	1475 - 1526	Famous explorer / colonizer of South Carolina - discoverer of Chesapeake Bay
14.     Francisco Pizarro	Spanish	1478 - 1541	Famous Explorer who conquered the Incas of Peru
15.     Ferdinand Magellan	Portuguese	1480 - 1521	1st voyage around the World by this famous explorer
16.     Giovanni da Verrazzano	Italian / French	1485 - 1528	Famous explorer from Italy who explored the NE coast of North America from Cape Fear, North Carolina to Maine
17.     Hernando Cortes	Spanish	1485 - 1547	Spanish conqueror of Mexico and the Aztec Empire
18.     Cabeza de Vaca	Spanish	1490 - 1557	The first European to explore Texas and Southwest America
19.     Jacques Cartier	French	1491 - 1557	Led three expeditions of exploration to Canada by this famous explorer
20.     Alonso Alvarez de Pineda	Spanish	1494 - 1519	Believed to be the 1st European in Texas - proved Florida was not an island
21.     Fray Marcos de Niza	Italian / Spanish	1495 - 1558	Discovering the Pueblo tribe called the Zuni Indians. Duped into believing the myth of the "Seven Golden Cities of Cibola"
22.     Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo	Spanish	1499 - 1543	1st European explorer to navigate the coast of present day California - US

Names	Nationality	Lifespan	Famous Voyage of Exploration
23.     Estevanico	N/African	1500 - 1539	Exploring Texas / SW America - heralded “1st  black man in North America.”
24.     Hernando De Soto	Spanish	1500 - 1542	First European to explore Florida and South East America
25.     Francisco Vasquez de Coronado	Spanish	1510 - 1554	First European to explore the Southwest of North America in Arizona and New Mexico
26.     Sir John Hawkins	English	1532 - 1595	Voyages to West Africa and South America by this famous explorer
27.     Sir Martin Frobisher	English	1535 - 1594	Voyages to Labrador and Greenland
28.     Sir Humphrey Gilbert	English	1539 - 1583	This famous explorer established St Johns, Newfoundland
29.     Sir Francis Drake	English	1540 - 1597	Circumnavigates the World
30.     Sir Richard Grenville	English	1542 - 1591	Voyages to Virginia and Roanoke Island and the Azores by this famous explorer
31.     Juan de Onate	Spanish	1550 - 1630	Famous for establishing the colony of New Mexico for Spain
32.     Sir Walter Raleigh	English	1552 - 1618	Discovery of Guiana / establishing Virginia colony of Roanoke Island in 1584
33.     Sir Richard Hawkins	English	1562 - 1622	Voyages to South America by this famous explorer
34.     Henry Hudson	English	1565 - 1611	The discovery of the  Hudson River by this famous explorer
35.     Samuel de Champlain	French	1567 - 1635	Famous explorer and founder of Quebec City. Known as 'The Father of Canada'
36.     Jacques Marquette	French	1637 - 1675	Discovering the Mississippi River with famous Canadian explorer Louis Joliet
37.     Louis Joliet	Canadian	1645 - 1700	Famous for exploring the Great Lakes area - discovering the Mississippi River

Source:  http://www.elizabethan-era.org.uk/famous-explorers.htm

Captain Scott: 1868-1912 
An adventure from history

This a book I have had for a few years but I re-read it. It tells the story of Robert Falcon Scott in quite a lot of detail. The illustrations are also very good, especially the horses. Scott and most of his expedition died on the way back, the horses were shot on the way there, it was a bit of a disaster. Personally I prefer warm weather. So unless I was going to study polar bears and penguins I can see why anyone would want to experience such extreme cold. Nature is so beautiful but huge expanses of ice....nah!




Here are a couple of websites you can explore yourself:

http://www.elizabethan-era.org.uk/famous-explorers.htm
http://www.yoshke.com/2010/10/top-10-greatest-explorers-of-all-time-they-came-saw-conquered-and-made-history/ 
http://www.history-timelines.org.uk/events-timelines/13-explorers-timeline.htm