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• America
remained
unknown to
Europe until the
end of the 15-th
century. Of great
importance at
that time was
trade with India
and China. Some
people thought
that they could
reach India by
travelling west
across the
Atlantic Ocean.
• Christopher Columbus
(1451 – 1506) was an
experienced Spanish
sailor, who asked the
king of Spain to give
him ships. He wanted
to look for a new route
to India. In 1492 he
sailed across the
Atlantic Ocean. They
had been sailing for
more than two
months. At last they
saw land which
proved to be part of
the Greater Antilles.
He thought that it was
India, so he called the
native people of the
islands Indians. He
also discovered the
Sargasso Sea and the
Lesser Antilles.
• A lot of expeditions
visited the New
World later. But it
was called America
only when another
explorer from
Spain Amerigo
Vespucci (1454 –
1512) described it as
a new part of the
world. He was the
first to think about
it and to prove it,
exploring the land.
• After that a lot of people went
to America to live there and
explore the continent. They
were mostly from Europe. One
of them was Alexander
Humboldt (1769 – 1859) a
German sailor, who explored
the northern coastline of South
America. Together with the
French biologist Emi Bonplan
he went deep into the
continent. There they
discovered the Orinoco River.
• At the beginning
of the 19-th
century the
German sailor
Gregory Langsdorf
(1774 – 1852)
became a leader of
the Russian
expedition to
America. He
studied nature
and native people
of the continent.
During his
travelling he made
a lot of discoveries
at the Brazilian
Highlands.
Task: Complete the table.
Name of the
explorer
Christopher
Columbus
Amerigo
Vespucci
Alexander
Humboldt
Gregory
Langsdorf
Life
Country Contribution to the
years
exploration of the
continent