The Age of Exploration
European maritime powers establish global trade routes and colonial empires, connecting the hemispheres through the Columbian Exchange and transforming the world forever.
Portugal Captures Ceuta
The Portuguese seizure of this North African port marks the beginning of European overseas expansion.
Bartolomeu Dias Rounds the Cape of Good Hope
The Portuguese navigator proves that a sea route to Asia around Africa is possible, opening the door to direct European-Asian maritime trade.
Columbus Reaches the Americas
Christopher Columbus's voyage across the Atlantic connects the Eastern and Western Hemispheres for the first time in millennia, initiating the Columbian Exchange.
Treaty of Tordesillas
Spain and Portugal divide the non-European world between them, with papal blessing — a remarkable act of imperial presumption that shapes colonial history.
Vasco da Gama Reaches India
The Portuguese navigator establishes the first direct sea route from Europe to India, breaking the Muslim-Venetian monopoly on the spice trade.
Cortés Conquers the Aztec Empire
Hernán Cortés, with a few hundred soldiers and devastating smallpox, overthrows the Aztec Empire — demonstrating the lethal combination of European weapons and disease.
Magellan's Expedition Circumnavigates the Globe
Though Magellan dies in the Philippines, his expedition completes the first circumnavigation, proving the world's sphericity and the vastness of the Pacific.
Pizarro Conquers the Inca Empire
Francisco Pizarro captures the Inca emperor Atahualpa and topples the largest pre-Columbian American state, seizing enormous quantities of gold and silver.
The Columbian Exchange Transforms Diets Worldwide
Potatoes, maize, and tomatoes reshape Old World agriculture while horses, cattle, wheat, and diseases transform the Americas — a permanent biological revolution.
Spanish Manila Galleon Trade Begins
Regular trade between Manila and Acapulco connects Asia to the Americas, creating the first truly global trade network as American silver flows to China.