ABSTRACT
As young children, we learn that Bartholomew Diaz rounded the Cape of Good Hope in 1487 and that Vasco da Gama set out in 1497 on the first successful voyage from Europe to India. Rarely do we learn much beyond those bare facts. Even delving deeper into Portugal’s history, we encounter only similar details about earlier moments. Prince Henry “the Navigator” sponsored Portuguese navigational efforts, Gil Eanes rounded Cape Bojador in 1434, and Diogo Cao navigated the Congo River in 1471.
