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4 history 2013
The Years of Discovery
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| continent | a large mass of land |
| oceans | the largest bodies of water |
| history | the story of what has happened in the life of a country or people |
| geography | the study of the surface of the earth |
| Old World | name given to Europe after America was discovered |
| New World | name given to America |
| Christopher Columbus | Italian sailor who discovered America in 1492 |
| Marco Polo | Italian merchant who visited China and described its riches to Europe |
| Nina, Pinta, Santa Maria | the three ships used on Columbus's first voyage |
| Ferdinand and Isabella | king and queen of Spain who finances Columbus's voyages |
| Indians | name Columbus gave to the people of the New World because he thought he was in India |
| Vikings | sea-going Scandinavian people |
| Leif Ericson | Viking who was the first European to visit America |
| John Cabot | explorer who claimed North America for England in 1497 |
| Amerigo Vespucci | explorer who was the first to call America a New World |
| Vasco de Gama | Portuguese explorer who was the first to sail around the tip of Africa |
| Ponce de Leon | first European to explore the land that is now the United States; explored and named Florida |
| San Salvador | island in the West Indies where Columbus first landed |
| Vinland | Vikings' name for America |
| 1000 | Vikings visit North America |
| 1492 | Columbus, seeking a route to Asia, discovers America |
| 1497 | Cabot claims North America for England; da Gama sails around the tip of Africa |