USA Studies Weekly Week 5

photo credit Nasa / Goddard Space Flight Center / Reto Stöckli Week 5 By: Joshua Willis USA Studies Weekly Cape Bojador, Africa, in the year 1434. Prince Henry the Navigator became the first European to pass this place while exploring. He lived from 1394 to 1460 and had traveled farther away from Europe than anyone else at that time."He was a Portuguese prince. Besides being a navigator, or skilled sailor, he was an explorer. He asked other navigators and cartographers, or mapmakers, to help him chart the coast of Africa. He also wanted to try and find a way to increase trade for his country.Prince Henry also collected navigation instruments to study. He helped get the whole 'exploration thing' organized. He even promoted the design of a new ship, the caravel, which was faster and better than the older styles. It's Not The End Of The World! Early native people in the Americas came here from north Asia by crossing a land bridge over the Bering Strait. A few years ago, some divers explored a sinkhole cave in the Caribbean and found a rare 10,000-year-old human skeleton. Scientists say that over the years, flood waters in the cave kept the skeleton about 90 percent intact (complete). Scientists have discovered that the bones are from a woman whose ancestors, or relatives, probably lived in Indonesia (a country in southeast Asia). That's a long way from the Bering Strait! Make No Bones About This . Early Explorer's Magellan wanted to find a way to trade in the 'Spice Islands,' now called the Maluku Islands, of Indonesia.Magellan left Spain with five ships on September 20, 1519. Antonio Pigafetta kept a detailed journal, or diary, about the whole scene while he was on board a ship in Magellan's fleet (a group of ships traveling together). It's a great primary source of historical information." Around the World in 1,081 Days