Sonni Ali captured Timbuktu, launching the Songhai Empire's rise to replace Mali as the dominant power of West Africa.
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.
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.
Admiral Zheng He leads seven Ming treasure voyages to Southeast Asia, the Indian Ocean, Arabia and East Africa.