<P> The Viking voyages did not become common knowledge in the Old World , and Europeans remained unaware of the existence of the Americas as a whole , until the first decades following the year 1492 . Many expeditions were launched from European nations in search of a Northwest Passage to East Asia ( or `` the Indies '' as the region was called ) in order to establish a shorter trade route to China than the Silk Road , a trade route which had become desperately needed and yet exacerbated by the Fall of Constantinople . Also , the Castilian crown needed an alternative to the Portuguese controlled eastern maritime trade route around Africa to India and East Asia . </P>
<P> The Viking voyages did not become common knowledge in the Old World , and Europeans remained unaware of the existence of the Americas as a whole , until the first decades following the year 1492 . Many expeditions were launched from European nations in search of a Northwest Passage to East Asia ( or `` the Indies '' as the region was called ) in order to establish a shorter trade route to China than the Silk Road , a trade route which had become desperately needed and yet exacerbated by the Fall of Constantinople . Also , the Castilian crown needed an alternative to the Portuguese controlled eastern maritime trade route around Africa to India and East Asia . </P>
when did the first explorers come to america
when did the first explorers come to america
1492
1492