Vasco da Gama Rounds the Cape of Good Hope: India in Sight
Dias had sailed within sight of India's riches nine years earlier, but his crew mutinied. Too scared. Too far. Now da Gama pushed past that same rocky cape with four ships and 170 men, none knowing if they'd find land or just endless ocean. He carried letters from the Portuguese king and stone pillars to mark new territory — assuming there was territory to mark. The route to Asia by sea, the thing Europe had wanted for centuries, suddenly became possible. Within six months, da Gama would anchor off Calicut with holds full of cinnamon and pepper, ending Venice's monopoly on the spice trade overnight.
December 16, 1497
529 years ago
Key Figures & Places
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