Medieval Explorers and Their Discoveries

Vasco da Gama was a Portuguese explorer who discovered the sea route to India around Africa in 1498.

Leif Erikson was a Norse explorer who reached North America around 1000 AD, five centuries before Christopher Columbus.

Marco Polo was a Venetian merchant and explorer who traveled to China in the 13th century and wrote an account of his travels, which became a bestseller in Europe.

Ferdinand Magellan was a Portuguese explorer who led the first expedition to circumnavigate the globe, although he himself did not complete the journey as he was killed in the Philippines.

Ibn Battuta was a Moroccan explorer who traveled extensively throughout the Islamic world and beyond in the 14th century, including to West Africa and the Mali Empire.

Vasco da Gama was the first European to reach the Pacific Ocean when he rounded the Cape of Good Hope in 1497.

Marco Polo was a Venetian merchant and explorer who traveled to the East Indies in the 13th century and wrote an account of his travels, which became a bestseller in Europe.

Vasco da Gama was the first European to reach India by sea when he arrived in Calicut in 1498.

Hernán Cortés was a Spanish conquistador who led the expedition that conquered the Aztec Empire in 1519.

Robert Peary was an American explorer who reached the North Pole in 1909.

Francisco Pizarro was a Spanish conquistador who led the expedition that conquered the Inca Empire in 1532.

Roald Amundsen was a Norwegian explorer who reached the South Pole in 1911.

Zheng He was a Chinese explorer who led a series of expeditions to the Indian Ocean and beyond in the 15th century.

Edmund Hillary was a New Zealand mountaineer who reached the summit of Mount Everest in 1953, along with Tenzing Norgay.

John Lloyd Stephens was an American explorer and writer who traveled to the Americas in the 19th century and wrote an account of his travels, which included descriptions of the Maya civilization.