- Examples:
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Vasco Nunez de Balboa
Spanish explorer who in 1513 crossed the Isthmus of Darien and became the first European to see the eastern shores of the Pacific Ocean (1475-1519)
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Vitus Behring
Danish explorer who explored the northern Pacific Ocean for the Russians and discovered the Bering Strait (1681-1741)
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Giovanni Cabato
Italian explorer who led the English expedition in 1497 that discovered the mainland of North America and explored the coast from Nova Scotia to Newfoundland (ca. 1450-1498)
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Jacques Cartier
French explorer who explored the St. Lawrence river and laid claim to the region for France (1491-1557)
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Christopher Columbus
Italian navigator who discovered the New World in the service of Spain while looking for a route to China (1451-1506)
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Captain James Cook
English navigator who claimed the east coast of Australia for Britain and discovered several Pacific islands (1728-1779)
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Vasco da Gamma
Portuguese navigator who led an expedition around the Cape of Good Hope in 1497; he sighted and named Natal on Christmas Day before crossing the Indian Ocean (1469-1524)
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John Davis
English navigator who explored the Arctic while searching for the Northwest Passage (1550-1605)
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Bartholomeu Dias
Portuguese explorer who in 1488 was the first European to get round the Cape of Good Hope (thus establishing a sea route from the Atlantic to Asia) (1450-1500)
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Sir Francis Drake
English explorer and admiral who was the first Englishman to circumnavigate the globe and who helped to defeat the Spanish Armada (1540-1596)
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Sir Martin Frobisher
English explorer who led an expedition in search of the Northwest Passage to the orient; served under Drake and helped defeat the Spanish Armada (1535-1594)
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Sir Humphrey Gilbert
English navigator who in 1583 established in Newfoundland the first English colony in North America (1539-1583)
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Robert Gray
American navigator who twice circumnavigated the globe and who discovered the Columbia River (1755-1806)
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Henry Hudson
English navigator who discovered the Hudson River; in 1610 he attempted to winter in Hudson Bay but his crew mutinied and set him adrift to die (1565-1611)
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Ferdinand Magellan
Portuguese navigator in the service of Spain; he commanded an expedition that was the first to circumnavigate the world (1480-1521)
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Abel Janszoon Tasman
Dutch navigator who was the first European to discover Tasmania and New Zealand (1603-1659)
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George Vancouver
English navigator remembered for his exploration of the Pacific coast of North America (1757-1798)
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Giovanni da Verrazzano
Florentine navigator who explored the eastern coast of North America (circa 1485-1528)
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Americus Vespucius
Florentine navigator who explored the coast of South America; America was named in his honor (1454-1512)
