Dias Lands at Mossel Bay: Europe Rounds the Cape of Good Hope
Bartolomeu Dias sailed past the southern tip of Africa without realizing it. A storm pushed his ships so far off course that when he turned back north, he hit the Indian Ocean side. His crew was terrified — they'd been at sea for months with no land. They forced him to turn around. On the way back, he finally saw the cape. He named it the Cape of Storms. King John II renamed it the Cape of Good Hope. Ten years later, Vasco da Gama used Dias's route to reach India.
February 3, 1488
538 years ago
Key Figures & Places
What Else Happened on February 3
Der Regent des geisteskranken chinesischen Kaisers Jin Huidi, Sima Lun, lässt den Kaiser absetzen und seinen Kronprinzen Sima Zang hinrichten. Anschließend erne…
Bischof Ulrich von Augsburg wird von Papst Johannes XV. heiliggesprochen. Er ist der erste durch Kanonisierung bestätigte Heilige.
Der Frieden von Bautzen wird durch die Hochzeit von Bolesław I. Chrobry mit Oda, der jüngsten Schwester von Markgraf Hermann I. von Meißen, besiegelt.
The Normans conquered Southern Italy because younger sons had nothing to inherit back home. Drogo of Hauteville was one of twelve brothers who left Normandy as …
Ramon Berenguer III married Douce I of Provence in 1112. She was 18. He was 35 and already widowed. The marriage joined Barcelona's Mediterranean ports with Pro…
fondation de l'abbaye cistercienne Saint-Aubin des Bois à Plédéliac dans l'actuel département des Côtes-d'Armor en Bretagne.
Talk to History
Have a conversation with historical figures who witnessed this era. Ask questions, explore perspectives, and bring history to life.