<P> The Age of Discovery was a period from the early 15th century and continuing into the early 17th century, during which European ships traveled around the world to search for new trading routes and partners to feed burgeoning capitalism in Europe . Historians often refer to the' Age of Discovery' as the pioneer Portuguese and later Spanish long - distance maritime travels in search of alternative trade routes to "the East Indies", moved by the trade of gold, silver and spices . In the process, Europeans encountered peoples and mapped lands previously unknown to them . </P> <P> Christopher Columbus was a navigator and maritime explorer who is one of several historical figures credited as the discoverer of the Americas . It is generally believed that he was born in Genoa, although other theories and possibilities exist . Columbus' voyages across the Atlantic Ocean began a European effort at exploration and colonization of the Western Hemisphere . While history places great significance on his first voyage of 1492, he did not actually reach the mainland until his third voyage in 1498 . Likewise, he was not the earliest European explorer to reach the Americas, as there are accounts of European transatlantic contact prior to 1492 . Nevertheless, Columbus's voyage came at a critical time of growing national imperialism and economic competition between developing nation states seeking wealth from the establishment of trade routes and colonies . Therefore, the period before 1492 is known as Pre-Columbian . </P> <P> John Cabot was a Genoese navigator and explorer commonly credited as one of the first early modern Europeans to land on the North American mainland aboard the Matthew in 1497 . Sebastian Cabot was an Italian explorer and may have sailed with his father John Cabot in May 1497 . John Cabot and perhaps Sebastian, sailing from Bristol, took their small fleet along the coasts of a "New Found Land". There is much controversy over where exactly Cabot landed, but two likely locations that are often suggested are Nova Scotia and Newfoundland . Cabot and his crew (including perhaps Sebastian) mistook this place for China, without finding the passage to the east they were looking for . Some scholars maintain that the name America comes from Richard Amerik, a Bristol merchant and customs officer, who is claimed on very slender evidence to have helped finance the Cabot voyages . </P> <P> Jacques Cartier was a French navigator who first explored and described the Gulf of St - Lawrence and the shores of the Saint Lawrence River, which he named Canada . Juan Fernández was a Spanish explorer and navigator . Probably between 1563 and 1574 he discovered the Juan Fernández Islands west of Valparaíso, Chile . He also discovered the Pacific islands of San Félix and San Ambrosio (1574). Among the other famous explorers of the period were Vasco da Gama, Pedro Álvares Cabral, Yermak, Juan Ponce de León, Francisco Coronado, Juan Sebastián Elcano, Bartolomeu Dias, Ferdinand Magellan, Willem Barentsz, Abel Tasman, Jean Alfonse, Samuel de Champlain, Willem Jansz, Captain James Cook, Henry Hudson, and Giovanni da Verrazzano . </P>

Which of the following naval accomplishments was the first to occur