Fun Facts About Vasco da Gama
- Vasco da Gama's gifts to the Zamorin of Kozhikode, including six hats, a chest of sugar, and a cask of honey, failed to impress. Officials wondered why there was no gold or silver.[1]
- On his first voyage, da Gama's ships sailed more than 10,000 kilometers of open ocean for over three months, by far the longest journey without landfall up to that time.[1]
- With Christmas approaching, da Gama's crew named the coast they were passing Natal, meaning "birth of Christ" in Portuguese.[1]
- When local authorities in India asked da Gama's fleet "What brought you hither?", they replied that they had come "in search of Christians and spices".[1]
- The remains moved to da Gama's new tomb in 1880 may have been the wrong ones: the casket held the bones of more than one person.[1]
- Portugal's national epic poem, Os Lusíadas by Luís de Camões, was written in da Gama's honor.[1]
- Vasco da Gama was alive at the same time as Leonardo da Vinci — their lives overlapped for 50 years (1469–1519).[1][2][3][4]
- Vasco da Gama and Niccolò Machiavelli were both born in 1469.[1][2][5][6]
Vasco da Gama was a Portuguese mariner, explorer and nobleman. His discovery of the first direct maritime route between Europe and India via the Cape of Good Hope and across the Indian Ocean from Malindi in Kenya to Kozhikode was to open up European exploration of, and commerce with, India, and is considered a landmark event and a turning point in world history.[1]
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Questions About Vasco da Gama
When was Vasco da Gama born?
Vasco da Gama was born in 1469 and died in 1524.
How old was Vasco da Gama at death?
Vasco da Gama died in 1524 at about 55 years old (1469–1524).
What was Vasco da Gama known for?
Vasco da Gama was known for: First European to reach India by sea. Vasco da Gama was a Portuguese mariner, explorer and nobleman. His discovery of the first direct maritime route between Europe and India via the Cape of Good Hope and across the Indian Ocean from Malindi in Kenya to Kozhikode was to open up European exploration of, and commerce with, India, and is considered a landmark event and a turning point in world history.
Who was alive at the same time as Vasco da Gama?
Vasco da Gama's closest contemporary was Niccolò Machiavelli. Their lives overlapped for 55 years.
Sources
- Vasco da Gama — Wikipedia. Text available under CC BY-SA 4.0
- Vasco da Gama (Q7328) — Wikidata
- Leonardo da Vinci — Wikipedia
- Leonardo da Vinci (Q762) — Wikidata
- Niccolò Machiavelli — Wikipedia
- Niccolò Machiavelli (Q1399) — Wikidata
- Portrait: Ignoto portoghese, ritratto di un cavaliere dell'ordine di cristo, 1525-50 ca. 02.jpg — Wikimedia Commons. Sailko, CC BY 3.0