<Ul> <Li> 1500 -- Vicente Yáñez Pinzón reaches the northeast coast of what today is Brazil at a cape he names `` Santa Maria de la Consolación '' ( Cabo de Santo Agostinho ) and sails fifty miles up a river he names the `` Marañón '' ( Amazon ) . </Li> <Li> 1500 -- Pedro Álvares Cabral makes the `` official '' discovery of Brazil , leading the first expedition that united Europe , America , Africa , and Asia . </Li> <Li> 1500 -- João Fernandes reaches Cape Farewell , Greenland ( `` Terra do Lavrador '' , or Land of the Husbandman ) . </Li> <Li> 1500 -- 02 -- Gaspar and Miguel Corte Real discover and name the coasts of `` Terra Verde '' ( likely Newfoundland ) and Labrador . </Li> <Li> 1500 - 01 -- Diogo Dias discovers Madagascar and reaches the gate of the Red Sea , the Bab - el - Mandeb Strait . </Li> <Li> 1500 -- Rodrigo de Bastidas explores the Colombian coast from Cabo de la Vela to the Gulf of Urabá . </Li> <Li> 1501 - 02 -- Gonçalo Coelho discovers `` Rio de Janeiro '' ( Guanabara Bay ) . </Li> <Li> 1502 -- 03 -- Columbus explores the North American mainland from Guanaja off modern Honduras to the present - day border of Panama and Colombia . </Li> <Li> 1505 -- Juan de Bermúdez discovers Bermuda . </Li> <Li> 1506 -- Lourenço de Almeida reaches the Maldives and Sri Lanka . </Li> <Li> 1506 -- Tristão da Cunha discovers the island of Tristan da Cunha . </Li> <Li> 1509 -- Diogo Lopes de Sequeira reaches Sumatra and Malacca . </Li> <Li> 1511 -- Duarte Fernandes leads a diplomatic mission to Ayutthaya Kingdom ( Siam or Thailand ) . </Li> <Li> 1511 -- Rui Nunes da Cunha leads a diplomatic mission to Pegu ( Burma or Myanmar ) . </Li> <Li> 1511 -- 12 -- João de Lisboa and Estevão de Fróis discover the `` Cape of Santa Maria '' ( Punta Del Este ) in the River Plate , exploring its estuary , and traveling as far south as the Gulf of San Matias at 42oS , in present - day Uruguay and Argentina ( penetrating 300 km ( 186 mi ) `` around the Gulf '' ) . </Li> <Li> 1511 -- 12 -- António de Abreu sails through the Strait of Malacca , between Sumatra and Bangka , and along the coasts of Java , Bali , Lombok , Sumbawa , and Flores to the `` Spice Islands '' ( Maluku ) . </Li> <Li> 1513 -- Jorge Álvares lands off the coast of China , on Nei Lingding Island at the Pearl River Delta . </Li> <Li> 1513 -- Vasco Núñez de Balboa crosses the Isthmus of Panama and reaches the Bay of San Miguel , discovering the `` Mar del Sur '' ( Pacific Ocean ) . </Li> <Li> 1513 -- Juan Ponce de León discovers `` La Florida '' ( Florida ) and the Yucatan . </Li> <Li> 1514 -- 15 -- António Fernandes reaches present - day Zimbabwe . </Li> <Li> 1515 -- Gonzalo de Badajoz crosses the Isthmus of Panama at the site of Nombre de Dios , reaching as far as the interior of the Azuero Peninsula . </Li> <Li> 1516 -- Juan Díaz de Solís explores the River Plate estuary and names it `` La Mar Dulce '' ( `` The Fresh - Water Sea '' ) . </Li> <Li> 1516 -- Portuguese traders land in Da Nang , Champa , naming it Cochinchina ( modern Vietnam ) . </Li> <Li> 1518 -- Lourenço Gomes reaches Borneo . </Li> <Li> 1518 -- Juan de Grijalva explores the Mexican coast from `` Patouchan '' ( Champotón ) to just north of the Pánuco River . </Li> <Li> 1519 -- Hernán Cortés travels from Villa Rica de la Vera Cruz to the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan on Lake Texcoco . </Li> <Li> 1519 -- Alonzo Alvarez de Pineda sails around the Gulf of Mexico to the Pánuco , proving its insularity ; also discovers the `` Father of Waters '' ( the Mississippi ) . </Li> <Li> 1519 -- Gaspar de Espinosa sails west along the west coasts of modern Panama and Costa Rica as far as the Gulf of Nicoya . </Li> <Li> 1519 -- 22 -- Ferdinand Magellan 's expedition completes the first circumnavigation of the globe , exploring the coast of Patagonia and discovering and traversing the Strait of Magellan . </Li> <Li> 1520 -- 21 -- João Alvares Fagundes explores Burgeo and Saint Pierre and Miquelon in Newfoundland , and Nova Scotia . </Li> <Li> 1521 -- Francisco Gordillo and Pedro de Quexos find the
<Ul> <Li> 1500 -- Vicente Yáñez Pinzón reaches the northeast coast of what today is Brazil at a cape he names `` Santa Maria de la Consolación '' ( Cabo de Santo Agostinho ) and sails fifty miles up a river he names the `` Marañón '' ( Amazon ) . </Li> <Li> 1500 -- Pedro Álvares Cabral makes the `` official '' discovery of Brazil , leading the first expedition that united Europe , America , Africa , and Asia . </Li> <Li> 1500 -- João Fernandes reaches Cape Farewell , Greenland ( `` Terra do Lavrador '' , or Land of the Husbandman ) . </Li> <Li> 1500 -- 02 -- Gaspar and Miguel Corte Real discover and name the coasts of `` Terra Verde '' ( likely Newfoundland ) and Labrador . </Li> <Li> 1500 - 01 -- Diogo Dias discovers Madagascar and reaches the gate of the Red Sea , the Bab - el - Mandeb Strait . </Li> <Li> 1500 -- Rodrigo de Bastidas explores the Colombian coast from Cabo de la Vela to the Gulf of Urabá . </Li> <Li> 1501 - 02 -- Gonçalo Coelho discovers `` Rio de Janeiro '' ( Guanabara Bay ) . </Li> <Li> 1502 -- 03 -- Columbus explores the North American mainland from Guanaja off modern Honduras to the present - day border of Panama and Colombia . </Li> <Li> 1505 -- Juan de Bermúdez discovers Bermuda . </Li> <Li> 1506 -- Lourenço de Almeida reaches the Maldives and Sri Lanka . </Li> <Li> 1506 -- Tristão da Cunha discovers the island of Tristan da Cunha . </Li> <Li> 1509 -- Diogo Lopes de Sequeira reaches Sumatra and Malacca . </Li> <Li> 1511 -- Duarte Fernandes leads a diplomatic mission to Ayutthaya Kingdom ( Siam or Thailand ) . </Li> <Li> 1511 -- Rui Nunes da Cunha leads a diplomatic mission to Pegu ( Burma or Myanmar ) . </Li> <Li> 1511 -- 12 -- João de Lisboa and Estevão de Fróis discover the `` Cape of Santa Maria '' ( Punta Del Este ) in the River Plate , exploring its estuary , and traveling as far south as the Gulf of San Matias at 42oS , in present - day Uruguay and Argentina ( penetrating 300 km ( 186 mi ) `` around the Gulf '' ) . </Li> <Li> 1511 -- 12 -- António de Abreu sails through the Strait of Malacca , between Sumatra and Bangka , and along the coasts of Java , Bali , Lombok , Sumbawa , and Flores to the `` Spice Islands '' ( Maluku ) . </Li> <Li> 1513 -- Jorge Álvares lands off the coast of China , on Nei Lingding Island at the Pearl River Delta . </Li> <Li> 1513 -- Vasco Núñez de Balboa crosses the Isthmus of Panama and reaches the Bay of San Miguel , discovering the `` Mar del Sur '' ( Pacific Ocean ) . </Li> <Li> 1513 -- Juan Ponce de León discovers `` La Florida '' ( Florida ) and the Yucatan . </Li> <Li> 1514 -- 15 -- António Fernandes reaches present - day Zimbabwe . </Li> <Li> 1515 -- Gonzalo de Badajoz crosses the Isthmus of Panama at the site of Nombre de Dios , reaching as far as the interior of the Azuero Peninsula . </Li> <Li> 1516 -- Juan Díaz de Solís explores the River Plate estuary and names it `` La Mar Dulce '' ( `` The Fresh - Water Sea '' ) . </Li> <Li> 1516 -- Portuguese traders land in Da Nang , Champa , naming it Cochinchina ( modern Vietnam ) . </Li> <Li> 1518 -- Lourenço Gomes reaches Borneo . </Li> <Li> 1518 -- Juan de Grijalva explores the Mexican coast from `` Patouchan '' ( Champotón ) to just north of the Pánuco River . </Li> <Li> 1519 -- Hernán Cortés travels from Villa Rica de la Vera Cruz to the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan on Lake Texcoco . </Li> <Li> 1519 -- Alonzo Alvarez de Pineda sails around the Gulf of Mexico to the Pánuco , proving its insularity ; also discovers the `` Father of Waters '' ( the Mississippi ) . </Li> <Li> 1519 -- Gaspar de Espinosa sails west along the west coasts of modern Panama and Costa Rica as far as the Gulf of Nicoya . </Li> <Li> 1519 -- 22 -- Ferdinand Magellan 's expedition completes the first circumnavigation of the globe , exploring the coast of Patagonia and discovering and traversing the Strait of Magellan . </Li> <Li> 1520 -- 21 -- João Alvares Fagundes explores Burgeo and Saint Pierre and Miquelon in Newfoundland , and Nova Scotia . </Li> <Li> 1521 -- Francisco Gordillo and Pedro de Quexos find the
who was the first european to discover the mississippi river
who was the first european to discover the mississippi river
Alonzo Alvarez de Pineda
Alonzo Alvarez de Pineda