| 1000 | Norsemen | Vinland settled by Vikings |
| 1095 | Crusades begin | |
| 1295 | Italy | Marco Polo returns from China |
| 1416 | Portugal | Henry the Navigator establishes school for navigators and cartographers |
| 1488 | Portugal | Bartholomeu Diaz reaches the southern tip of Africa, the Cape of Good Hope |
| 1492 | Spain | Columbus sails west; "discovers" the New World |
| 1494 | Portugal and Spain | Sign Treaty of Tordesillas |
| 1497 | England | John Cabot sails west; claims Newfoundland |
| 1498 | Portugal | Vasca da Gama rounds the Cape of Good Hope, sails to India and returns to Portugal with cargo |
| 1502 | Italy | Amerigo Vespucci publishes book New World |
| 1508 | England | Henry VIII comes to the throne |
| 1513 | Spain | Ponce de Leon explores Florida |
| 1513 | Spain | Balboa "discovers" the Pacific Ocean (west of Panama) |
| 1519 | Spain | Hernando Cortez conquers the Aztecs |
| 1519 | Spain | Magellan sets sail to circum-navigate the world |
| 1522 | Spain | Magellan's expedition returns to Spain, having completed trip, minus Magellan |
| 1534 | England | Henry VIII establishes the Church of England |
| 1540 | Spain | Coronado explores the Southwest |
| 1542 | Spain | Cabrillo explores California Coast |
| 1558 | England | Elizabeth I comes to the throne |
| 1565 | Spain | First permanent European settlement in North America is founded at St. Augustine, FL |
| 1570s | England | Sea Dogs led by Francis Drake |
| 1583 | England | Sir Humphry Gilbert leads unsuccessful expedition to Newfoundland |
| 1585 | England | Sir Walter Raleigh organized settlement of Lost Colony of Roanoke |
| 1588 | England | Defeats and destroys the Spanish Armada |
| 1603 | England | James I becomes monarch |
| 1607 | England | Jamestown settlement founded |
| 1608 | French | Settlement of Quebec begun |
| 1608 | England | Pilgrims move to Holland |
| 1609 | Holland | Henry Hudson explores New York harbor and Hudson River Valley |
| 1609 | Spain | Santa Fe, NM settlement established |
| 1620 | England | Pilgrims leave Holland on the Mayflower; establish Plymouth Bay |
| 1623 | Holland | Dutch begin settlement of New Amsterdam, New Netherlands |
| 1625 | England | Charles I becomes king |
| 1629 | England | Puritans establish Massachusetts Bay Colony |
| 1634 | England | Maryland founded by Lord Baltimore |
| 1635 | England | Roger Williams leaves Boston, establishes Providence, RI |
| 1642 | England | Civil War erupts; Charles I beheaded in 1649 |
| 1651 | England | First of the Navigation Acts passed - continue until 1733 |
| 1658 | England | Oliver Cromwell dies; restoration of the monarchy in 1660; Charles II becomes king |
| 1664 | England | England lays claim to New Netherlands, ending Dutch rule |
| 1670 | England | Charter issued for Carolinas |
| 1675 | Bacon's Rebellion | |
| 1681 | England | William Pen is given land grant to become Pennsylvania |
| 1685 | England | James II comes to throne |
| 1688 | England | Glorious Revolution, William and Mary become joint rulers |
| 1692 | Salem Witch Trials | |
| 1733 | England | Georgia settlement officially established |
| 1769 | Spain | 1st of 21 California missions founded by F. Junipero Serra in San Diego |