The Age of Exploration Trivia Questions

Many European nations funded exploration: Portugal, England, France, the Netherlands, and others. Spanish monarchy was a major sponsor but not the only one.

The Age of Exploration continued for centuries after 1492, with later voyages to Americas, Asia, and Pacific, and only gradually ended in the 17th or 18th century.

Ancient Greeks knew Earth was round; Eratosthenes calculated circumference ~240 BC. Columbus and Magellan's voyages confirmed but did not prove for first time.

The Treaty of Tordesillas, mediated by the Pope, drew a line 370 leagues west of Cape Verde, giving Spain rights west and Portugal east of the line.

Magellan's expedition, led by Juan Sebastián Elcano after Magellan's death, completed the first circumnavigation in 1522, proving Earth's roundness and size.

Columbus and his crew found pineapples in Guadeloupe and brought them back to Europe, where they became a luxury fruit symbolizing wealth.

Norse explorers led by Leif Erikson reached North America around 1000 AD, nearly 500 years before Columbus. The Age of Exploration refers to later European voyages.

Dutch navigator Willem Janszoon charted part of the Gulf of Carpentaria in 1606, making the first confirmed European sighting of Australia.