Exploration
In the 15th century, Europeans began to sail west across the Atlantic Ocean in search of new routes to China and the East. In the process, they discovered what they labeled a "New World," although Indigenous people had lived there for centuries. Other explorers have pushed the limits of flight and seafaring, and traversed the frozen Continent of Antarctica.
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These fast ships and navigational tools aided European sailors between the 15th and 17th centuries.
Columbus's famed voyage to the New World was celebrated by Italian-Americans, in particular, as a pathway to their own acceptance in America.
The discovery of Ernest Shackleton's ship at the bottom of Antarctica's Weddell Sea recalls a grueling expedition when men endured entrapment, hunger, frigid weather, angry seas—and near madness.
The encounter between the Spanish explorer and Aztec king changed the course of history. But the story has long been told from one side.
Matthew Henson Conquers the North Pole
Matthew Henson Conquers the North Pole
Robert Peary is famous as the first explorer to officially reach the North Pole, but Matthew Henson might deserve just as much credit.
3 Famous Explorers
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The Portuguese nobleman Vasco da Gama (1460-1524) sailed from Lisbon in 1497 on a mission to reach India and open a sea route from Europe to the East. After sailing down the western coast of Africa and rounding the Cape of Good Hope, his expedition made numerous stops in Africa before reaching the trading post of Calicut, India, in May 1498.
These fast ships and navigational tools aided European sailors between the 15th and 17th centuries.
In the 15th century, a small kingdom with a population of approximately 1 million launched the era of maritime exploration that would transform the world.
The Vikings Discover the New World The first attempt by Europeans to colonize the New World occurred around 1000 A.D. when the Vikings sailed from the British Isles to Greenland, established a colony and then moved on to Labrador, the Baffin Islands and...
Leif Eriksson was a Norse explorer, and the first known European to have set foot on continental North America, on what is now called Greenland. He reached North America nearly four centuries years before Christopher Columbus arrived in 1492.
Find out how the Spanish explorer's name became inextricably linked with the Fountain of Youth.
Juan Ponce de León was a Spanish explorer who served as governor of Hispaniola and Puerto Rico, and allegedly searched for a Fountain of Youth in Florida.
In the early 1910s, explorers Roald Amundsen and Robert Falcon Scott engaged in a frantic, and ultimately tragic, race to be the first man to reach the South Pole.
Discover fascinating facts about the life of Marco Polo and his legendary travels to the Far East.
Columbus's famed voyage to the New World was celebrated by Italian-Americans, in particular, as a pathway to their own acceptance in America.
Christopher Columbus, an explorer who stumbled upon the Americas, started centuries of colonialism and the exploitation of Native Americans.
Explore 10 little-known aspects of one of naval history’s most legendary—and deadly—voyages.
The reality of his journey is a bit more complicated.
In 1519, Ferdinand Magellan set off on an audacious journey around the globe.
Deadly mistakes doomed these early European settlements.
