1. John Cabot arrives on the shores of Canada and claims the land for Britain in 1497.
2. After a series of battles, Cortés overthrows the Aztec Empire and claims Mexico for Spain, in 1521.
3.The Amadas and Barlowe expedition leaves England to explore the New World on 27 April 1584.
4. Champlain founds Quebec, in present-day Canada, the first French colony in the Americas in 1608.
5. The Spanish founds the city of Santa Fe in New Mexico in.
6. France founds the city of New Orleans along the Mississippi River.