- Asia
- Africa
Portuguese ships reach the Rivers of Guinea
Expeditions under Alvise Cadamosto, sailing for Portugal's Prince Henry the Navigator, explored the coast and estuaries of Guinea, opening European trade in the labyrinth of rivers that gave the region its name.
Era: The Rivers of Guinea and the Atlantic slave trade
Sources: Portuguese Guinea · Wikipedia, History of Guinea-Bissau · Wikipedia, Guinea-Bissau (country overview and history) · Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Africa
Portuguese reach the uninhabited islands
Sailing for Prince Henry the Navigator, the Venetian captain Alvise Cadamosto and others made landfall on the empty Cape Verde archipelago; further islands were charted over the next decade by Diogo Gomes and António de Noli.
Era: Uninhabited islands and the first town in the tropics
Sources: History of Cabo Verde · Encyclopaedia Britannica, History of Cape Verde · Wikipedia, The Portuguese Colonization of Cape Verde · World History Encyclopedia
- Africa
Fernão do Pó sights the island
The Portuguese navigator Fernão do Pó sighted the volcanic island in the Gulf of Guinea in 1472, reportedly naming it Formosa; it soon took his own name as Fernando Pó, the island later renamed Bioko.
Era: Fernão do Pó, the Portuguese, and the cession to Spain
Sources: History of Equatorial Guinea · Encyclopædia Britannica, History of Equatorial Guinea · Wikipedia, Equatorial Guinea · New World Encyclopedia
- Africa
Portuguese reach the estuary and name it Gabão
Portuguese navigators arrived at the estuary of the Komo River in 1472 and named it Gabão, the Portuguese word for a hooded cloak, after the estuary's shape; the country's name derives from it.
Era: The Myènè coast, the Fang, and the Atlantic trade
Sources: History of Gabon · Encyclopædia Britannica, History of Gabon · Wikipedia
- Africa
Portugal builds Elmina Castle
The Portuguese raised Castelo de São Jorge da Mina (Elmina Castle) to protect the gold trade — the first European fortress in sub-Saharan Africa and the oldest surviving European building south of the Sahara.
Era: European forts, gold, and the Atlantic slave trade
Sources: Elmina Castle · Encyclopaedia Britannica, Forts and Castles, Volta, Greater Accra, Central and Western Regions · UNESCO World Heritage Centre, Elmina Castle, Ghana · International Coalition of Sites of Conscience
- Africa
Diogo Cão reaches the coast
The Portuguese navigator Diogo Cão landed on the Namib coast and raised a stone cross at Cape Cross; the waterless, harbourless shore — later the Skeleton Coast — long deterred European settlement.
Era: The desert coast, the Orlam migration and the Nama polities
Sources: Namibia (country, history and government) · Encyclopaedia Britannica, History of Namibia · Wikipedia
- Europe
Dias rounds the Cape of Good Hope
Bartolomeu Dias led the first European expedition to round the southern tip of Africa, showing that the Atlantic and Indian oceans were connected and opening the route to Asia.
Era: The Age of Discovery
Sources: Bartolomeu Dias · Encyclopaedia Britannica
- North America
Columbus's first landfall at Guanahani
Christopher Columbus made his first landfall in the Americas at the Lucayan island of Guanahani, which he renamed San Salvador and claimed for Castile, opening the European encounter with the New World.
Era: The Lucayans and Columbus's landfall
Sources: Oct 12, 1492 CE: Columbus Makes Landfall in the Caribbean · National Geographic Society, The Bahamas — British colonization (History) · Encyclopaedia Britannica, Bahamas: Local History and Genealogy — Research Guide · Library of Congress
- North America
Columbus reaches Cuba
On his first voyage Christopher Columbus anchors off the northern coast of Cuba and claims the island for Spain, his first encounter with the Taino there.
Era: The Taino and the Spanish Conquest
Sources: Taino · Encyclopaedia Britannica, Cuba: A Country Study · Library of Congress, Federal Research Division
- North America
Columbus reaches Hispaniola
On his first voyage Christopher Columbus lands on the island the Taino call Quisqueya and claims it for Spain as La Isla Espanola, opening the European conquest of the Americas.
Era: Quisqueya, Columbus, and the First Colony
Sources: History of the Dominican Republic · Encyclopaedia Britannica, Hispaniola · Encyclopaedia Britannica
- North America
Columbus lands on Hispaniola
Christopher Columbus reaches the Taino island of Quisqueya and names it La Isla Espanola, beginning Spanish colonisation of the Americas.
Era: Quisqueya: The Taino and Spanish Hispaniola
Sources: Columbus and the Taino · Library of Congress, Hispaniola · Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Europe
Columbus's first voyage and the Alhambra Decree
Columbus reached the Americas under the crown of Castile, beginning Spain's overseas empire; the same year the Alhambra Decree expelled Spain's Jews who refused conversion.
Era: The Catholic Monarchs and the Golden Age Empire
Sources: Spain · Encyclopaedia Britannica, Alhambra Decree / Edict of Expulsion of the Jews (1492) · Encyclopaedia Britannica
- North America
Columbus reaches the Caribbean
Christopher Columbus's landfall opened sustained contact between Europe and the Americas, beginning an era of conquest, colonisation, and devastating disease for Indigenous peoples.
Era: Indigenous America before contact
Sources: Jamestown Colony · Encyclopaedia Britannica
- North America
Columbus claims the island
On his second voyage, Christopher Columbus reaches the island and claims it for Spain, naming it San Juan Bautista.
Era: Borikén of the Taíno and Columbus's Arrival
Sources: Puerto Rico: History · Encyclopædia Britannica
- Africa
São Tomé settled by Álvaro Caminha
The first successful settlement of São Tomé was established under a crown grant to Álvaro Caminha, beginning the islands' colonisation.
Era: Empty islands and the first plantation society
Sources: History of São Tomé and Príncipe · Wikipedia, São Tomé and Príncipe · Encyclopaedia Britannica
- North America
Columbus reaches Jamaica
On his second voyage Christopher Columbus arrives off the north coast, claiming the island for Spain and naming a harbour Santa Gloria.
Era: Xaymaca: The Taino Island
Sources: Jamaica: History · Encyclopaedia Britannica, Columbus and the Taino · Library of Congress
- North America
John Cabot reaches the Atlantic coast
Sailing for England, John Cabot reached the coast of present-day Atlantic Canada in 1497, beginning the sustained European interest in the region's fisheries and lands that would follow.
Era: Indigenous peoples and First Nations before contact
Sources: Canada · Encyclopaedia Britannica, First Nations and Indigenous peoples in Canada · The Canadian Encyclopedia
- Africa
Vasco da Gama reaches the Kenyan coast
The Portuguese navigator Vasco da Gama calls at Mombasa and Malindi en route to India, beginning a century of Portuguese involvement on the Swahili coast.
Era: Portuguese and Omani Rule on the Coast
Sources: History of Kenya · Wikipedia, Vasco da Gama · Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Africa
Vasco da Gama reaches the coast
Bound for India, Vasco da Gama anchors off the Island of Mozambique, where Muslim merchants receive him with suspicion; he sails on, marking the first European contact with the coast.
Era: Da Gama and the Portuguese Seizure of the Coast
Sources: Vasco da Gama · Encyclopaedia Britannica, History of Mozambique · Wikipedia, Vasco da Gama · The Mariners' Museum — Ages of Exploration
- Europe
Vasco da Gama reaches India
Vasco da Gama sailed around the Cape of Good Hope to Calicut, completing the sea route from western Europe to India and inaugurating direct trade with Asia.
Era: The Age of Discovery
Sources: Vasco da Gama · Encyclopaedia Britannica
- South America
European voyages sight the coast
Columbus sights the Guiana coast in 1498 and Spanish expeditions sail along it soon after, but no lasting settlement follows.
Era: Indigenous Peoples and Early Contact
Sources: Suriname: History · Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Africa
Vasco da Gama reaches the coast
The Portuguese navigator Vasco da Gama arrives on the East African coast en route to India, opening an era of Portuguese intrusion that disrupted the Swahili city-states.
Era: The Portuguese and Omani Zanzibar
Sources: Portuguese conquest of the East African coast · Wikipedia, The Portuguese in East Africa · World History Encyclopedia
- North America
Columbus sights Trinidad and Tobago
On his third voyage Christopher Columbus reached Trinidad, naming it after the Holy Trinity, and sighted Tobago — the first European contact with islands then inhabited by Arawak and Carib peoples.
Era: The first peoples
Sources: Trinidad and Tobago: History · Encyclopaedia Britannica, T&T History Timeline · National Trust of Trinidad and Tobago, A Guide to the History of Recognition: Trinidad and Tobago · U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian
- South America
Columbus reaches the Gulf of Paria
On his third voyage Christopher Columbus enters the Gulf of Paria near the Orinoco, the only South American mainland he ever set foot on.
Era: Indigenous Peoples and the Encounter of 1498
Sources: Venezuela: A Country Study · U.S. Library of Congress, Federal Research Division, Venezuela · Encyclopaedia Britannica
- South America
Colonisation in the 15th century
Every event in the Terralore archive tagged colonisation — the establishment, administration and ending of colonial rule, narrowed to the 15th century — 26 of them, drawn from 24 nations, running from 1407 to 1499. Each entry keeps the sources it was verified against and links back to the chronicle it came from.
- Events
- 26
- Nations
- 24
- Earliest
- 1407
- Latest
- 1499
- Africa
- 10
- North America
- 9
- Europe
- 3
- South America
- 3
- Asia
- 1
Every entry below is the same record, with the same sources, as the one on its nation’s chronicle.