Explorers Unit (People)

Question 1

Who was Leif Erikson?

Answer 1

Birth: Icelandic Commonwealth
Date of Birth/Death: 478/1020
Country worked for: Norse

Question 1

Where did Leif Erikson go and when?

Answer 1

Part of North America around the year 1000AD (Modern-day Newfoundland Canada)

Question 2

What impact did Leif Erikson’s exploration have?

Answer 2

1. His expeditions confirmed that lands existed west of Greenland, where his father Erik the Red, had settled
2. Showed that transatlantic travel was possible
3. Inspired future explorers, and became an important part of Viking history that inspired many Scandinavian People
4. Was believed to be the first European to discover North America (500 years before Columbus)

Question 3

Who was Ibn Battuta?

Answer 3

Birth: Tanger Morroco
Date of Birth/Death: 1304/1368
Country worked for: Morroco

Question 4

Where did Ibn Battuta go?

Answer 4

1325-1332: North Africa, Egypt, Iraq, Persia, East Africa
1332-1346: India, Maldives, Sri Lanka, Southeast Asia, China
1349-1354: Returned to Morroco

Question 5

What impact did Ibn Battuta’s exploration have?

Answer 5

1. Documented cultural, political, and economic life in the 4th century
2. Travelogue, Rihla, became a key historical source
3. Influenced future explorers by showcasing global connections
4. Highlighted the importance of trade routes like the Silk Road and Indian Ocean trade.

Question 6

Who was Zheng He?

Answer 6

Birth: China
Date of Birth/Death: 1371/1453
Country worked for: Ming Dynasty

Question 7

Where did Zheng He go?

Answer 7

1405-1407
- Followed trade routes to Southeast Asia and India
- Visited modern-day Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia
- Crossed the Indian Ocean to get to India and Sri Lanka

Question 8

What impact did Zheng He’s exploration have?

Answer 8

1. Expanded Chinese trade and diplomatic ties across Asia and Africa
2. Brought back goods, animals (giraffes), and knowledge
3. Improved diplomatic ties (Africa, Arabia, South Asia)
4. Mapped many sea routes

Question 9

Who was Bartholomeu Dias?

Answer 9

Birth: 1450, Faro District, Portugal
Death: 1500, South Atlantic Ocean
Parents: Dinis Dias (Portuguese Explorer)
Children: Simão Dias de Novais, António Dias de Novais
Education: University of Lisbon
Work Experience: Chief explorer of the port warehouses

Question 10

Where did Bartholomeu Dias go?

Answer 10

1. Left August 1487 from Portugal
2. Furthest point: Cape Agulhas - crew attempted mutiny and was forced to head back
3. Discovered Cape of Storms (later renamed Cape of Good Hope to signify happiness about reaching India)
4. Returned to Portugal in December 1488

Question 11

What Impact did Bartholomeu Dias’s Expeditions have?

Answer 11

1. First European to sail around the southern tip of Africa
2. New insights into the sea currents and winds
   - Improved ship building
   - Prepared Vasco da Gama’s expedition in 1497
   
   • Info on sea/wind currents
   • Shipbuilding improvements
   • Improved navigational skills
3. Find a safe sea route to India
   - Allowed the Portuguese to continue sailing across the Indian Ocean and develop trade
4. Growth of Portuguese Rule (growing colonial power

Question 12

Who was Vasco Da Gama?

Answer 12

Birth: Sines, Portugal
Date of Birth/Death: 1460
Country worked for: Portugal

Question 13

Where did Vasco Da Gama go?

Answer 13

• Found a sea route around Africa
• Expedition (95 days) sailed into the Indian Ocean

Question 14

What impact did Vasco Da Gama’s Expeditions have?

Answer 14

1. Established a sea route around Africa to East Asia
2. By 1550 Portugal had been trading ports and colonies in Africa, India, Brazil, and South Asia

Question 15

Who was Christopher Columbus?

Answer 15

Birth: Italy
Date of Birth/Death: 1451/1505
Country worked for: Spain

Question 16

Where did Christopher Columbus go?

Answer 16

• Asia
• Caribbean Island (San Salvador)
• Opened the Americas to European exploration and colonization

Question 17

What impact did Christopher Columbus’s Expeditions have?

Answer 17

• Creation of a vast amount of Spain empires in the Americas
• Helped the colonization of the America
• Sparked trade (goods, plants, animals, diseases, culture) and the triangle trade

Question 18

Who was Magellan?

Answer 18

Birth: Portugal
Date of Birth/Death: 1480/1521
Country worked for: Spain

Question 19

Where did Magellan go?

Answer 19

• Left from Spain (1519)
• Canary Islands (1519)
• South America (Late 1519-1520)
• Pacific Ocean (1520-1521)
• Phillippines (1521)
• Spice Islands (Maluku, Indonesia) (1521)
• Returned to Spain (1522)

Question 20

Who was Jeanne Baret?

Answer 20

Birth: France
Date of Birth/Death: 1740/1807
Country worked for: France

Question 21

What impact did Magellan’s expeditions have?

Answer 21

• Gave Spain access to the “Spice Islands” of Southeast Asia
• Led the first expedition to circumnavigate the globe, proving the world was round and that the oceans were connected
• Proved the world was huge
• Spain gained control over the Philippines

Question 22

Where did Jeanne Baret go?

Answer 22

Louis Antoine de Bougainuille’s voyage
- Brazil
- Madagascar
- South Africa

Question 23

What impacts did Jeanne Baret’s expedition have?

Answer 23

• First woman to sail around the world
• Story became an inspiration for women in science and exploration