Vasco da Gama

Portuguese explorer (c. 1460s – 1524)

Vasco da Gama ( VAS-koo də GA(H)M-ə, European Portuguese: [ˈvaʃku ðɐ ˈɣɐmɐ]; c. 1460s – 24 December 1524) was a Portuguese mariner, explorer and nobleman. His discovery of the first maritime route between Europe and India—around the Cape of Good Hope, then across the Indian Ocean from Malindi in Kenya to Kozhikode—opened up European exploration of, and commerce with, India, and is considered a landmark event in world history. Da Gama's first voyage (1497–1499) was the first to link Europe and Asia using an ocean route that rounded the southern tip of Africa, although he was not the first Portuguese mariner to round the Cape.

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