| A | B |
|---|
| Christopher Columbus | Searched for a shorter route to Asia and the riches of China. Found the New World in 1492. |
| Vasco de Balboa | Searched for a route across the North American Continent to reach the riches of Asia. Crossed the Isthmus of Panama and was the first to see the South Sea (Pacific Ocean) in 1513. |
| Juan Ponce de Leon | Searced for the fountain of youth in what is today Florida in 1513. |
| Hernando Cortez | Searched for and found the wealth of the Aztec nation in Mexico in 1519. |
| Francisco Pizzaro | Traveled with Balboa across Panama. He heard about the riches of the Incas in Peru. He conquered the Incas in 1532. |
| Jacques Cartier | Searched for the Northwest Passage across North America and for cities of silver and gold in 1530. |
| Francisco Coronado | Searched for the Seven Cities of Gold in the western area of the United States in 1540. |
| Robert LaSalle | Searched for a passage across the North American Continent-Discovered the Mississippi River and claimed the lands drained by the river for the King Louis XIV of France in 1682. |
| Ferdinand Magellan | Searched for a shortcut to Asia by sailing around South America. His expedition was the first to sail around the world. Magellan was killed in the Philippines in 1519. |
| John Cabot | Searched for a shorter route across the North American continent to Asia. He sailed for England in 1497. |
| Henry Hudson | Searched for the Northwest Passage-He discovered the river that is today named for him, Hudson River. Hudson was English but he sailed for the Dutch in 1609. |
