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Ferdinand Magellan
x Ferdinand Magellan was born in Portugal around 1480. The exact location and date are unknown, however sources state he was the son of Rodrigo de Magalhaes and Alda de Mesquita, wealthy Portuguese nobles. His parents died around the time Ferdinand turned ten years of age, and Magellan was taken into Queen Leonora’s court as a Page, where he studied celestial navigation, cartography and astronomy, all of which would help with his later career. In 1505 when at the age of 25, Magellan was on board a vessel bound for East Africa. In 1509 he took part in the Battle of Dui, in the Arabian Sea, and in 1511 was…
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Acadiens
The New World was full of possibility and all the European powers who were anybody were founding colonies as fast as they could. After Columbus’ journey, Pope Alexander, formerly Rodrigo Borgia, divided the New World between Spain and France. He left all other European countries out of the loop. This probably would have annoyed the English, but they didn’t listen to the Pope anyway so they kept on doing what they were doing. However, France was mightily miffed. So they had spent a lot of gold to back Borgia’s rival for the papacy? Was that any reason to leave them out of the colonial gold rush? According to Borgia, apparently…
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Tales from New York City
New York was first colonised by Native Americans around 12,000 years ago. These Natives eventually formed two main tribes, the Iroquoian and the Algonquian. In 1524, the French sailed past the area and charted the coastline, the first “discovery”, however it wasn’t until 1609 that the area was first settled by the Dutch, who gave their land the name New Netherlands, also noted historically as New Amsterdam although in actuality New Amsterdam represented the administrative seat, on what is now the South tip of Manhattan Island, which the Dutch bought from Native Americans in 1626. New Netherlands covered the coastal area from the Delmarva Peninsular to the furthest south-western point…
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First landfall made at Cape Henry, Virginia
After a of 144 days at sea, a longer than usual voyage, Captain Christopher Newport, and his three ships, the Susan Constant, the Godspeed and the Discovery, made land in the Northeast corner of what is now Virginia Beach. They named the spot Cape Henry, after the son of the King, Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales. Further to the North, another across the bay is Cape Charles, named for the next son of King James. The voyage and subsequent colony was undertaken on behalf of the London Company, a subsidiary of the Virginia Company, with a Royal Charter by King James I. The voyage followed a similar route to the…
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Pocahontas
Pocahontas (born Matoaka, known as Amonute) was born around 1595 in Virginia. She was an Native American Indian notable for her association with the colonial settlement at Jamestown, Virginia. Pocahontas was the daughter of Powhatan, the paramount chief of a network of tributary tribal nations in the Tsenacommacah, encompassing the Tidewater region of Virginia. Her mother, whose name and specific group of origin are unknown, was one of dozens of wives taken by Powhatan. Each wife gave him a single child and then was sent back to her village to be supported by the paramount chief until she found another husband. Pocahontas is probably most well known for her relationship…
