ExplorationNotable
Age of Exploration
European maritime nations launched expeditions that mapped the globe, connected continents, and transformed world trade, culture, and power dynamics between 1400–1600.
c. 1400 CE – 1600 CEEurope, Americas
Exploration
Voyages of discovery that expanded geographical knowledge and initiated global contact.
5 events
EmpireWarRevolutionPartitionColonialismKingdomTreatyDynastyIndependenceGenocidePandemicReligionCulturalEconomicLegal
ExplorationNotable
Viking Age
Norse seafarers from Scandinavia raided, traded, and settled across a vast area from North America to Constantinople, fundamentally shaping the political and cultural landscape of medieval Europe.
793 CE – 1066 CEEurope, Americas
ExplorationNotable
Zheng He's Voyages
Chinese admiral Zheng He led seven massive treasure voyages through Southeast Asia, India, Arabia, and East Africa, demonstrating Ming China's naval supremacy decades before European exploration.
1405 CE – 1433 CEEast Asia, Southeast Asia
ExplorationNotable
Vasco da Gama's Voyage to India
Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama became the first European to reach India by sea, opening a direct trade route and beginning Portuguese domination of the Indian Ocean.
1497 CE – 1499 CEEurope, Africa
ExplorationNotable
Space Race
A Cold War competition between the US and USSR to achieve firsts in space exploration, from Sputnik (1957) through Gagarin's orbital flight (1961) to the Apollo 11 moon landing (July 20, 1969).
1957 CE – 1969 CEAmericas, Europe