Storiascopio · Era 9 of 12 · lower secondary year 2
Vasco da Gama reaches India
1498 · Calicut (now Kozhikode), India
In short
The Portuguese navigator Vasco da Gama set out from Lisbon in 1497 with four ships. He sailed round Africa, passing the Cape of Good Hope, and went up the east coast of the continent. With the help of a pilot who knew the Indian Ocean well, in May 1498 he arrived at Calicut, in India. For the first time a European ship had reached India directly by sea.
Why it matters He opened a sea route for spices that made Portugal extremely rich and changed world trade.
Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Vasco da Gama”
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about 1420Event 8 of 251687
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