may 15, 1497 - Jon Cabot

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By the late 1490s, he was living in England, and gained a commission from King Henry VII to make an expedition across the northern Atlantic. He sailed from Bristol in May 1497 and made landfall in late June. John Cabot's landing in 1497 is generally thought to be the first European encounter with the North American continent since Leif Eriksson and the Vikings explored the area they called Vinland in the 11th century.

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