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Explorer: John Cabot (c. 1450 - 1499)
"Sayled in this tracte so farre towarde the weste, that the Ilande of Cuba bee on my lefte hande, in manere in the same degree of longitude."
The Italian explorer John Cabot had moved to England in the hope of securing a patron to fund his search for a short route to China. The English crown agreed to fund an expedition, and in 1497 Cabot sailed to either the regions known today as Nova Scotia, Canada or Maine, United States. From there he sailed more than 900 miles to Cape Race in Newfoundland, and then returned to England.

Cabot planned to return to Newfoundland, and in 1498 the English government granted permission to recruit sailors. However, it is not known if any of the crew reached North America, or if Cabot survived the voyage, because he was never heard from again.
Articles:
Letters Patent to John Cabot, 1496
Source:
Essential Documents in American History
Accession Number:
21212448
Lexile:
1920
Database(s):
Middle Search Plus
John Cabot's Voyages for England
Source:
European Rediscovery of America, 2003, p46
Accession Number:
10678809
Lexile:
1020
Database(s):
History Reference Center
Who Was John Cabot?
Source:
John Cabot & the Rediscovery of North America, 2000, p6
Accession Number:
9195787
Lexile:
990
Database(s):
History Reference Center