| A | B |
|---|
| Vasco De Gama | sailed around tip of Africa |
| Bartolome De Las Casas | priest who defended the rights of Indians |
| Ferdinand Magellan | led an expedition that sailed around the Earth 1519-1522 |
| Prince Henry the Navigator | worked to improve navigational techniques |
| Francisco Pizarro | conquered the Inca Empire |
| Christopher Columbus | Italian explorer who sailed across the Atlantic Ocean in 1492, hoping to find a route to India (in order to trade for spices). |
| Jacques Cartier | sailed inland, going 1,000 miles up the St. Lawrence River, and founded a region he named Canada |
| Samuel de Champlain | French explorer and navigator who mapped much of northeastern North America and started a settlement in Quebec. |
| Francisco Vásquez de Coronado | Spanish ruler, explorer and conquistador. He was the first European to explore North America's Southwest. |
| Hernán Cortés (also spelled Cortez) | Spanish adventurer and conquistador (he was also a failed law student) who overthrew the Aztec emperor Montezuma and claimed Mexico for Spain |
