In September 1513 the Spanish conquistador Vasco Nunez de Balboa, with about 190 Spaniards and a number of indigenous guides, crossed the Isthmus of Panama through jungle and mountains, and from a peak on 25 September saw the ocean to the south. Four days later he waded into the water with a banner and claimed it for Spain, naming it the South Sea. He was the first European to see the Pacific from the Americas. Balboa was later accused of treason by the governor Pedrarias Davila and beheaded in 1519.
Before and after
- 30 July 1511Birth of Giorgio Vasari
- 1512The School of Athens
- 22 February 1512Death of Amerigo Vespucci
- 1513Construction of Palazzo della Cancelleria
- 1513Balboa sights the Pacific
- 9 September 1513Battle of Flodden
- 31 December 1514Birth of Andreas Vesalius
- 1515Construction of Hampton Court Palace
- 1515Construction of Belém Tower
More in Exploration & discovery
- 20 May 1506Death of Christopher Columbus
- 27 April 1521Death of Ferdinand Magellan
- 24 December 1524Death of Vasco da Gama
- 1540Birth of Francis Drake
- 24 September 1557Death of Jacques Cartier
- 27 October 1728Birth of James Cook
The era
This moment belongs to the Early modern world (1500 CE to 1760 CE), voyages, printing and new ideas. You can also browse everything in the 16th century.