Pachacuti becomes ruler of Cusco and transforms the small kingdom into the Inca Empire (Tawantinsuyu), the largest empire of pre-Columbian America.
Approximate date.
Tenochtitlan, Texcoco and Tlacopan form an alliance that becomes the basis of the Aztec Empire dominating central Mexico.
The Incas build Machu Picchu high in the Andes, most likely as an estate for the emperor Pachacuti.
Christopher Columbus's Spanish-sponsored expedition makes landfall on an island in the Bahamas.
Spain and Portugal agree to divide newly found lands outside Europe along a meridian in the Atlantic.
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.
A Portuguese fleet under Pedro Álvares Cabral reaches the coast of Brazil, beginning Portugal's claim to and colonization of the land.