Discovery and Exploration 1492-1607

United States of America &gt; United States History &gt; Discovery and Exploration 1492-1607 

The New World
In 1564 the French Protestants (Huguenots) attempted to colonize North America, building a colony nearby the modern day Jacksonville, Florida. The Spanish had already staked claim in that locality and soon rid the area of the French. The London Company sent out explorers in 1606. Meantime, the Basque, English and French fishing fleets were frequenting the coasts from Cape Cod to Newfoundland.
 * 1492: Christopher Columbus sails across the Atlantic Ocean and reaches an island in the Bahamas in the Caribbean Sea.
 * 1513: Juan Ponce de León explores the Florida coast.
 * 1524: Giovanni da Verrazano explores the coast from Carolina north to Nova Scotia, enters New York harbor.
 * 1540: Francisco Vásquez de Coronado explores the Southwest.
 * 1565: St. Augustine, Florida, the first town established by Europeans in America is founded by the Spanish. Later burned by the English in 1586.