A few hundred years ago, the known physical world was a lot smaller. With the discovery of the 'new world' (and its gold deposits), many Europeans were emboldened to find out more about what was out there and wasted no time launching ships and staking claims. Here are many of the more successful.
a commander of the Spanish Navy, explorer, and captain general who served in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, fighting for both sides at different times due to the changing fortunes of Spain in the conflict. Also an explorer, most notable in the Pacific Northwest, where he and Dionisio Alcalá Galiano conducted the first circumnavigation of Vanc...
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a commander of the Spanish Navy, explorer, and captain general who served in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, fighting for both sides at different times due to the changing fortunes of Spain in the conflict. Also an explorer, most notable in the Pacific Northwest, where he and Dionisio Alcalá Galiano conducted the first circumnavigation of Vancouver Island, in partial cooperation with George Vancouver. Over his long career he achieved the highest ranks in the Spanish Navy, eventually being named Captain General of Cadiz and Captain General of the Spanish Navy.
a Spanish conquistador and the first royal governor of Chile. After serving with the Spanish army in Italy and Flanders, he was sent to South America in 1534, where he served as lieutenant under Francisco Pizarro in Peru, acting as his second in command. In 1540 he led an expedition of 150 Spaniards into Chile, where he defeated a large force of indigenous n...
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a Spanish conquistador and the first royal governor of Chile. After serving with the Spanish army in Italy and Flanders, he was sent to South America in 1534, where he served as lieutenant under Francisco Pizarro in Peru, acting as his second in command. In 1540 he led an expedition of 150 Spaniards into Chile, where he defeated a large force of indigenous natives and founded Santiago in 1541. He extended Spanish rule south to the Bío-Bío River in 1546, fought again in Peru (1546-48), and returned to Chile as governor in 1549. He began to conquer Chile south of the Bío-Bío and founded Concepción in 1550. He was captured and killed in a campaign against the Araucanian Indians.
a Dutch naval officer and explorer who led the second Dutch expedition to Indonesia from 1598 to 1599. Van Neck was from an Amsterdam family in good standing, and received a thorough education. Since he came from a commercial background and was not experienced in sailing, he took extra classes in navigation. Following the success of the first Dutch expeditio...
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a Dutch naval officer and explorer who led the second Dutch expedition to Indonesia from 1598 to 1599. Van Neck was from an Amsterdam family in good standing, and received a thorough education. Since he came from a commercial background and was not experienced in sailing, he took extra classes in navigation. Following the success of the first Dutch expedition to Indonesia in 1597, Van Neck was chosen to lead a second expedition in 1598, with the purpose of bringing back various spices. In May 1598, he left the port of Texel with eight vessels under his command.
a merchant with the Dutch East India Company and the Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies from 1709 to 1713. After his studies, he became a merchant with the Dutch East India Company and travelled on the ship De Vrijheyt to Batavia, where he arrived 1677. He was Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies from 1709 until his death in 1713. He was a...
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a merchant with the Dutch East India Company and the Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies from 1709 to 1713. After his studies, he became a merchant with the Dutch East India Company and travelled on the ship De Vrijheyt to Batavia, where he arrived 1677. He was Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies from 1709 until his death in 1713. He was a keen explorer, who undertook several smaller and a few larger voyages in the Indies.
an English officer of the Royal Navy, who explored and charted North America's northwestern Pacific Coast regions, including the coasts of contemporary Alaska, British Columbia, Washington and Oregon. He also explored the Hawaiian Islands and the southwest coast of Australia.
an Italian traveller, diarist and aristocrat known for being the first non-Muslim European to enter Mecca as a pilgrim. Nearly everything that is known about his life comes from his own account of his travels, Itinerario de Ludouico de Varthema Bolognese, published in Rome in 1510. Explored Arabian Peninsula, Indian Ocean, Southeast Asia
a Spanish conquistador. He first visited the New World with the crew of Christopher Columbus' second voyage in 1493. He conquered and governed Cuba on behalf of Spain.
an Italian explorer of North America, in the service of King Francis I of France. He is renowned as the first European since the Norse to explore the Atlantic coast of North America between Florida and New Brunswick, including New York Bay and Narraganse...
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an Italian explorer of North America, in the service of King Francis I of France. He is renowned as the first European since the Norse to explore the Atlantic coast of North America between Florida and New Brunswick, including New York Bay and Narragansett Bay in 1524. He was also known as a Florentine buccaneer who, in 1522, captured three Spanish vessels. Two of these vessels were laden with cargoe from Mexico. The cargoe of the third vessel included sugar, pearls and hides from the Island of Hispaniola.
an Italian explorer, financier, navigator and cartographer who first demonstrated that Brazil and the West Indies did not represent Asia's eastern outskirts as initially conjectured from Columbus' voyages, but instead constituted an entirely separate landmass hitherto unknown to Afro-Eurasians. Colloquially referred to as the New World, this second super con...
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an Italian explorer, financier, navigator and cartographer who first demonstrated that Brazil and the West Indies did not represent Asia's eastern outskirts as initially conjectured from Columbus' voyages, but instead constituted an entirely separate landmass hitherto unknown to Afro-Eurasians. Colloquially referred to as the New World, this second super continent came to be termed "America", deriving its name from Americus, the Latin version of Vespucci's first name. Explored eastern South US coast, Caribbean
a captain and legal officer (procurador general) in the Juan de Oñate expedition that first colonized Santa Fe de Nuevo México in 1598. Between 1601 and 1603, he served as the Alcalde mayor of the Guanacevi mines in what is now the Mexican state of Durango. He is better known for his authorship of Historia de la Nueva México, published in 1610.
a Spanish explorer who sailed the Pacific from Mexico to establish a permanent foothold for Spain in the East Indies. Explored Pacific Ocean, Philippines
a Spanish soldier, entrepreneur, explorer, and diplomat whose varied roles took him to New Spain, the Philippines, the Baja California peninsula, the California coast and Japan.
a Dutch sea-captain who explored the central west coast of Australia (then "New Holland") in the late 17th century. The mission proved fruitless, but Vlamingh charted parts of the continent's western coast.
a 17th-century Dutch cartographer and explorer, the first Western European to leave an account of his visit to the Sea of Okhotsk and the island of Sakhalin.
