Spain and Portugal agree to divide newly found lands outside Europe along a meridian in the Atlantic.
Date given in the Julian calendar.
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.
Lorenzo "the Magnificent", ruler of Florence and patron of artists such as Botticelli and Michelangelo, dies.
Christopher Columbus's Spanish-sponsored expedition makes landfall on an island in the Bahamas.
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.