John Cabot Sails from Bristol: Looking for Asia, Finds North America
The crew was eighteen men total. That's what you could fit on the *Matthew*—a merchant ship so small it barely qualified as ocean-worthy. Cabot convinced Bristol merchants to fund him after Columbus came back claiming he'd reached Asia. He hadn't, but nobody knew that yet. Cabot figured he could find the real route by sailing farther north. He left sometime in early May 1497, though the records disagree by two days. He'd be back in fifteen weeks, convinced he'd found China. He'd actually touched Newfoundland. England claimed North America because one Venetian couldn't read a map.
May 20, 1497
529 years ago
Key Figures & Places
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