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This is an accepted version of this page This is the latest accepted revision, reviewed on 15 December 2024. Leif Erikson (c.970–c.1020) was a famous Norse explorer who is credited for being the first European to set foot on American soil. Explorers are listed below with their common names, countries of origin (modern and former), centuries of activity and main areas of exploration. Marco ...
European exploration initiated the Columbian exchange between the Old World (Europe, Asia, and Africa) and the New World (the Americas and Australia). This exchange involved the transfer of plants, animals, human populations (including slaves ), communicable diseases , and culture across the Eastern and Western Hemispheres .
1826 – Scottish explorer Alexander Gordon Laing becomes the first European to reach the fabled city of Timbuktu, but is murdered upon leaving the city. [99] 1827 – Jedediah Smith crosses the Sierra Nevada (via Ebbetts Pass) and the Great Basin. [29] 1828 – French explorer René Caillié is the first European to return alive from Timbuktu.
The Spanish voyages of Christopher Columbus opened the New World. Genoese navigator and explorer Giovanni Caboto (known in English as John Cabot) is credited with the discovery of continental North America on June 24, 1497, under the commission of Henry VII of England. Though the exact location of his discovery remains disputed, the Canadian ...
Historia antipodum oder newe Welt, or History of the New World, by Matthäus Merian the Elder, published in 1631. The Florentine explorer Amerigo Vespucci is usually credited for coming up with the term "New World" (Mundus Novus) for the Americas in his 1503 letter, giving it its popular cachet, although similar terms had been used and applied before him.
A prime goal for explorers was to locate the source of the River Nile. Expeditions by Burton and Speke (1857–1858) and Speke and Grant (1863) located Lake Tanganyika and Lake Victoria. It was eventually proved to be the latter from which the Nile flowed. Explorers were also active in other parts of the continent.
The conquistadors found new animal species, but reports confused these with monsters such as giants, dragons, or ghosts. [106] Stories about castaways on mysterious islands were common. An early motive for exploration was the search for Cipango, the place where gold was born. Cathay and Cibao were later goals.
This is list of Italian [2] explorers and navigators (Italian: esploratori) in alphabetical order: This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by adding missing items with reliable sources .