The Portuguese built São Jorge da Mina on the Gold Coast (present-day Ghana), the first European post in sub-Saharan Africa, which later became a hub of the slave trade.
The Portuguese navigator Bartolomeu Dias became the first European to sail around the southern tip of Africa, proving the Indian Ocean could be reached by sea.
King Nzinga a Nkuwu of the Kingdom of Kongo was baptized as João I, beginning Kongo's long relationship with Portugal and the Catholic Church.
Spain and Portugal agree to divide newly found lands outside Europe along a meridian in the Atlantic.
Sonni Ali captured Timbuktu, launching the Songhai Empire's rise to replace Mali as the dominant power of West Africa.
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.
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.