Giovanni da Verrazzano sets sail westward from Madeira to find a sea route to the Pacific Ocean.
Giovanni da Verrazzano ( VERR-ə-ZAH-noh, -ət-SAH-, Italian: [dʒoˈvanni da (v)verratˈtsaːno], often misspelled Verrazano in English; 1485–1528) was an Italian (Florentine) explorer of North America, in the service of King Francis I of France.
He is renowned as the first European to explore the Atlantic coast of North America between Florida and New Brunswick in 1524, including New York Bay and Narragansett Bay.