1492
Spain funds exploration
1492 is the year Christopher Columbus sailed from Spain and reached the Americas, making it shorthand for the European discovery of the New World.
The date carries different weight depending on perspective—celebrated as the dawn of exploration or mourned as the beginning of colonization and indigenous displacement.
In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue.
Journey by sea
- NinaFeminine given name
- IsabellaSpanish royal name
- FerdinandTraditional male given name
- SpainIberian Peninsula country
Genoa · expedition · transatlantic · navigation · mariner · Caribbean · encounter · Indies
Small Portuguese exploration ship
- astrolabeAncient altitude-measuring instrument
- compassDevice showing cardinal directions
- mapsGeographic visual representations
- seafaringTraveling by ocean vessel
maritime · sailing · ocean · charting · latitude · sextant · winds · currents
Western Hemisphere landmasses
- indigenousOriginating in a region
- conquestDefeating and seizing control
- settlementResolved dispute or colony
- territoriesAreas under jurisdiction
expansion · conquistadors · Aztecs · Mayans · Incas · settlers · encomienda · missionaries
European cultural reawakening
- centuryHundred-year span
- timelineOrdered display of events
- ReformationReligious movement splitting Christianity
- GutenbergPrinting press inventor's name
humanism · feudalism · guilds · Michelangelo · scholasticism · inquisition · monarchy · Granada
voyage
Journey by sea
Spain · Genoa · expedition · transatlantic · navigation · mariner · Caribbean · encounter · Indies · landfall
caravel
Small Portuguese exploration ship
- astrolabeAncient altitude-measuring instrument
- compassDevice showing cardinal directions
- mapsGeographic visual representations
seafaring · maritime · sailing · ocean · charting · latitude · sextant · winds · currents · stars
Americas
Western Hemisphere landmasses
- indigenousOriginating in a region
- conquestDefeating and seizing control
- settlementResolved dispute or colony
territories · expansion · conquistadors · Aztecs · Mayans · Incas · settlers · encomienda · missionaries · subjugation
Renaissance
European cultural reawakening
- centuryHundred-year span
- timelineOrdered display of events
- ReformationReligious movement splitting Christianity
Gutenberg · humanism · feudalism · guilds · Michelangelo · scholasticism · inquisition · monarchy · Granada · medieval
- SephardicLadino, Sephardi, Judeo-Spanish, expulsion, Inquisition
- Ridley ScottBlade Runner, Gladiator, Thelma and Louise, Black Hawk Down, The Martian
- Al-AndalusAl-Andalus, Granada, Alhambra, Caliphate, caliphate
- ReconquistaReconquista, Catholic Monarchs, Ferdinand, Granada, Isabella
- Medieval Dates1066, 1099
1492decolonization
Ending imperial control
indigenous sovereignty · pre-Columbian · liberation · independence · post-colonial