1450-1499+John+Cabot

John Cabot
 * Birth: Born about 1455 in Italy, where he was known as Giovanni Caboto
 *  merchant who became an expert mariner while trading in spices and other valuable goods
 * 1494 or 1495: Cabot and his family moved to Bristol, England
 *  petitioned the king and local merchants to support a voyage to discover a better route to Asia by sailing west across the North Atlantic
 * 1496: With financial backing from Bristol merchants and authorization from Henry VII, Cabot made his first attempt
 *  ran short of food
 * encountered bad weather
 * disagreements with the crew, causing him to turn back
 * in 1497 second attempt, sailing across the Atlantic in the Matthew and reaching land in what was probably modern-day Atlantic Canada
 *  left Bristol in May- back by August 6
 * Cabot sailed again to the New World, taking five vessels
 *  believed he died during this voyage, either by shipwreck, by starvation, or at the hands of the Beothuks or the Spanish
 *  his second voyage, June 24, 1497, somewhere in Eastern Canada became the first European mariner after the Norse known to have reached North America