A Portuguese fleet under Pedro Álvares Cabral reaches the coast of Brazil, beginning Portugal's claim to and colonization of the land.
Date given in the Julian calendar.
From the 16th to the 19th century, an estimated 12.5 million enslaved Africans were shipped across the Atlantic to the Americas, with profound consequences for both continents.
Vasco da Gama's fleet left Lisbon, rounded the Cape of Good Hope, sailed up the East African coast and reached Calicut, opening a direct sea route between Europe and Asia.
Leonardo da Vinci begins painting the Mona Lisa in Florence, which later becomes the world's most famous painting.
Spain and Portugal agree to divide newly found lands outside Europe along a meridian in the Atlantic.
Emir Muhammad XII surrenders to Ferdinand and Isabella, ending the last Muslim state on the Iberian Peninsula.
Ferdinand and Isabella order the Jews of Castile and Aragon to convert or leave their kingdoms.