Recent Articles
Timeline of United States pre-history (before 1600)
This section of the
Timeline of United States history
concerns
events up to 1599
.
[
Top
]
1400s
1492
-
Christopher Columbus
lands on one of the
Bahamas
Islands, "discovering" the
New World
(for
15th century
Europe
)
1494
-
Treaty of Tordesillas
divides the New World between
Spain
and
Portugal
1497
-
John Cabot
is the first European since the
Vikings
to reach the North American mainland, which he claims for
England
[
Top
]
1500s
1513
-
Vasco Núñez de Balboa
crosses isthmus of
Panama
, sees
Pacific Ocean
1513
-
Juan Ponce de León
claims
Florida
for Spain
1519
-
Hernán Cortés
defeats
Tlaxcala
, a small state neighboring the
Aztec
empire
1520s-Spanish begin conquest of
Maya civilization
1521
-Cortes destroys the Aztec empire
1524
-
Giovanni da Verrazano
, working for
France
, explores coastline from present-day
North Carolina
to
Maine
1542
-
Hernando de Soto
discovers the
Mississippi River
, strengthening Spanish claims to the interior of North America
1570s-
Iroquois League
founded
1587
-Sir
Walter Raleigh
founds
Roanoke Colony
, the first English settlement in the New World, in the
Virginia
territory
1590
-Roanoke found deserted
Beginnings to 1599
History of the United States
1600-1699