Who do you believe is the most famous

explorer of all time? Why? Give as many

facts about your explorer as possible.

AustraliaEarly

Exploration

Why did Europeans send

explorers?• Sea route to the spices of

Asia• Gold, silver, precious stones• Curiosity; expand knowledge• Control; power• Spread Christianity• Animal furs

First Inhabitants

First Inhabitants20,000-60,000 B.C.

• Aborigines• Scientist do not

agree to how these natives arrived1. Island hoppers2. Land bridge

Earliest Explorers

1st century AD Chinese invent the first compass.

120 AD Ptolemy creates the first flat map of the world.

982 Eric the Red discovers Greenland.

1002 Leif Ericson discovers North America.

1271- 1295 Marco Polo goes to China.

1450 Prince Henry the Navigator builds school for sailors.

1453 Turkish Empire cuts off the land route for spices from Asia to Europe. Search for sea route begins.

1487 Bartholomeu Dias discovers the southern tip of Africa.

1492 Columbus sails to the New World.

1497 John Cabot discovers Newfoundland while he searches for the Northwest Passage.

1502 Amerigo Vespucci returns from his explorations of the New World. American continents named after him by German mapmaker.

1513 Vasco Nunez de Balboa discovers the eastern shore of the Pacific Ocean. Juan Ponce de Leon searches for the Fountain of Youth in Florida.

1519 - 1522 Ferdinand Magellan and his crew sail around the world.

1521 Hernando Cortez defeats the Aztec Empire.

1533 Francisco Pizarro defeats the Inca Empire.

1534 Jacques Cartier discovers the St. Lawrence River and the Great Lakes.

1539 - 1542 Hernando De Soto explores the southeastern United States.

1540 Francisco Vasquez de Coronado explores the southwestern United States and discovers the Grand Canyon.

1577 Sir Francis Drake becomes the first Englishman to sail around the world.

1673 Father Jacques Marquette and Louis Jolliet explore the Mississippi River.

1682 Rene-Robert de La Salle explores the Mississippi River from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico.

Willem Jansz• 1570?• Netherlands• Sent by Dutch East Indies Company to explore route south of Indies• First European (Dutch) to see and land on the continent of Australia

Louis de Torres•1606•Spanish•Sailed through Torres Strait but never landed in Australia

Torres Strait

Abel Tasman• 1603• Dutch• Explored northern coast of Australia (1642)• Discovered island of Tasmania; called it “Van Diemen’s Land” after General of Dutch East Indies

Abel Tasman

Abel Tasman’s 1st Voyage

Abel Tasman’s 2nd Voyage

Broome, Australia

X

Broome, Australia

Port Hedland

X

William Dampier• 1652• Buccaneer (pirate); not for

wealth but curiosity• 1688 became British navigator;

sent by British to find Terra Australis• Explored Australia’s coast and

other large areas of the far South Pacific

• First Englishman to visit Australia (New Holland)• Lands on western shore of

“New Holland”• Bad Luck – bad ship, bad crew,

scurvy, ship sank on return voyage• Court marshaled; forbidden

from joining navy

• First Englishman to visit Australia (New Holland)• Lands on western shore of

“New Holland”• Bad Luck – bad ship, bad crew,

scurvy, ship sank on return voyage• Court marshaled; forbidden

from joining navy• So….

James Cook• 1728• British• “discovered” Australia

Cook’s First Voyage• 1768• “Purpose” – voyage to Tahiti to

observe passage of Venus between the earth and the sun• Rio de Janeiro, east coast of

Australia (New Holland), East Indies (Indonesia), Indian Ocean, Cape of Good Hope

Accomplishments…

• Returned July, 1771• Claimed Australia• Explored, charted, mapped islands of Pacific• Developed a way to prevent scurvy

Scurvy• Disease caused by malnutrition• Affected many sailors• Resulted in illness and death• Prevention….

eat “lots” of veggies!!!!!!

Cook’s Second Voyage• July, 1772• Purpose – find a large southern

continent to balance the continents of the Northern Hemisphere• Tip of Africa, headed south• Forced to turn around because

of huge masses of ice• Came within 75 miles of

Antarctica

Cook’s Second Voyage…• New Zealand for the winter• Sailed again in the spring past

Antarctic Circle

Accomplishments…

• Concluded “No habitable southern continent”• Discovered several islands of the Pacific• Accurate maps

Cook’s Third Voyage• July, 1776• Purpose – search for Northwest

Passage• Tip of Africa, New Zealand (Cook

Strait), Sandwich Islands (Hawaii), Oregon, British Columbia, Alaska, Bering Strait, Bering Sea

• Halted by Arctic ice; returned to Hawaii for winter

Accomplishments…• February, 1779• While in Hawaii, investigated a

theft• Killed by a native

Matthew Flinders• 1774• England• Sailed around Australia proving it to be one large land mass• Named Australia