dec 16, 1497 - Sea Route around Africa

Description:

Vasco da Gama's fleet passed the Great Fish River (Eastern Cape, South Africa) - where Bartolomeu Dias had turned back - and sailed into waters previously unknown to Europeans.

With Christmas pending, da Gama and his crew gave the coast they were passing the name Natal, which carried the connotation of "birth of Christ" in Portuguese.

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