#11- Leif Erikson

11 Leif Erikson



In 986, the Viking, Eirik Thorvaldsson, or Erik the Red, discovered and colinized Greenland. This Viking had a son named Leif Erikson(c. 960- c.1020). As a young man, Erikson went to Norway and worked for the king there. After coming back to Greenland, Erikson sailed West, probably in search of the land that the Viking, Bjarni Harjulfsson had passed by and described as hilly and heavily forrested. Harjulfsson never landed in America, saying that it was a useless land. Around the year 1000, Erikson made it to America, about 500 years before Colombus. He found three islands, naming the smaller two Heeluland and Markland. The third and largest island, he named Vineland because he thought that the berries that grew there were grapes. This island is probably Newfoundland. After a winter on Vineland, Erikson returned. Some Vikings came back to Vineland later on to form a settlement, but the hostility between the Vikings and the Native Americans led to the failure of the colony. Erikson earned his place in history for being the first European to set foot on in the New World.

Information from...
http://www.mnc.net/norway/LeifErikson.htm

#12- Francisco Pizarro

12 Francisco Pizarro

Francisco Pizarro (1475-1541) was a Spanish conquistador and explorer. In 1513, Pizarro joined the expedition of Nunez de Balboa across Panama, where they found the Pacific. In 1532, after two small trips along the western coast of South America, Pizarro made one last time with 200 men, including Hernando de Soto. On November 15, 1532, Pizarro found Cajamarca, an Incan city, and kidnapped the Incan emperor, Atuallpa, soon afterwards. After a giant ransom of gold was paid for Atuallpa's release, Pizarro had the emperor strangled. In 1535, Pizarro destroyed Cuzco, the Incan capital. After having his angry men build him a palace, a group of his men assassinated him in 1541. Pizarro will always be known as the explorer who discovered and destroyed the great empire of the Inca, and for claiming all this land for Spain.

Information from...
www.carpenoctem.tv/military/pizarro.html

#13- Sir Francis Drake

13 Sir Francis Drake

Sir Francis Drake (1540-1596) was a British explorer and privateer under the rule of Queen Elizabeth I. Drake was the first explorer after Magellan to sail around the world. He went below South America, like Magellan, but once he got to the Pacific, Drake went up the coast of America, and made it at least all the way to California before crossing the Pacific. After landing in Indonesia, Drake made his way past the Cape of Good Hope to England. Upon his return, Drake was rewarded with 10000 pounds. As a privateer, Drake helped England defeat the Spanish Armada, a fleet of 130 ships and 30000 Spanish men. Although many say that Drake is famous for being the first Englishman to circumnavigate the world, Drake makes our list for exploring the Western coast of America and for helping to defeat the Spanish Armada.

Information from...
http://www.library.thinkquest.org/

Random Picture from Turkey

#14- Pedro Alvarez Cabral

14 Pedro Cabral

Pedro Alvarez Cabral (1467-1520) was a Portugese explorer during the reign of King John II. King John appointed Cabral to sail arround the Cape of Good Hope and go to the Indies. With 13 ships, Cabral left Lisbon in 1500, with many men including Bartholemeu Dias, the explorer who had found the Cape of Good Hope. After sailing through the Cape Verdes Islands, Cabral found Brazil. Because Cabral thought that South America was an island, he named the land Vera Cruz (The True Cross). The brazilwood that Cabral found in Brazil contained a red dye. Cabral's men named the dye Terra de Brasil, from which the name Brazil came from. From South America, Cabral went towards the Cape of Good Hope. On May 24, 1500, a storm broke out at the cape, sinking the ship of Bartholemeu Dias. In September, Cabral arrived in Calcut, and Cabral brought many spices back from India. Cabral earns greatness for finding and naming Brazil, as well as going straight from South America to India.

Information From...
www.elizabethan-era.org.uk

California's Golden Gate Bridge

The Most Momentous Bridge in the West

In 1919, the idea of having a bridge stretching across the entrance of San Francisco Bay was first proposed. When the idea came up, Joseph Strauss, a bridge engineer from Chicago, was called in along with many other engineers. Strauss was appointed chief engineer of the project and construction started in 1933. To resist high winds, Strauss designed a conventional suspension bridge supported by two piers. Unlike many other engineers, Strauss took excessive safety precautions. He gave each worker a pair of sunglasses to protect the workers from the glare. He also had a medical team inspect the construction workers regularly. The safety net that Strauss had set up under the bridge saved at least 19 lives during construction. On May 27, 1937, the bridge opened. The bridge was 8981 feet (2737m) long and spanned 4200 feet (1280m) from pier to pier. Each pier was 746 feet (227m) tall. The Golden Gate bridge survived a lot of disasters. After having to be closed down in 1940 because of its excessive flexibility, the bridge was stiffened. The bridge went on to survive a 7.1 scale earthquake in 1989 and was strengthened to withstand a 8.3 scale earthquake. The Golden Gate has become the symbol of San Francisco and has 41 million cars travel across it every day. The great bridge is now one of America's greatest wonders and is known throughout the world as the Gate to California.

Information from...
The World's Greates Buildings
Revised and Edited
Consultant Editor- Trevor Howells

#15- John Cabot

15 John Cabot


Giovanni Caboto, or John Cabot (c.1450-1499) was an Italian merchant and navigator. In 1483, Cabot moved to Bristol. After Colombus found America, Cabot convinced Henry VII of England to send out explorers to claim land in the New World and to find a passage to Asia by going North of America. In 1497, Cabot sailed from Bristol and landed in the New World somewhere from Maine to Newfoundland. He claimed the land he found for England. This trip was the first known trip to find the Northwest passage, for Cabot thought that he had reached Asia. When Cabot got back, he claimed that he reached Asia and was promoted to the rank of admiral and was sent back to what they thought was Asia to find Japan. When Cabot got to America again, he realized that he was still in America. Cabot will forever be known for being the first to search for the Northwest passage, turning England into an exploration power, and for having another famous explorer, Sebastian Cabot, as a son.

Information from...
http://www.library.thinkquest.org/