Vasco Núñez de Balboa
Spanish explorer, governor, and conquistador (c. 1475 – 1519) / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Vasco Núñez de Balboa (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈbasko ˈnuɲeθ ðe βalˈβo.a]; c. 1475 – around January 12–21, 1519)[1] was a Spanish explorer, governor, and conquistador. He is best known for crossing the Isthmus of Panama to the Pacific Ocean in 1513,[2] becoming the first European to lead an expedition to have seen or reached the Pacific from the New World.[3]
Vasco Núñez de Balboa | |
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Born | c. 1475 Jerez de los Caballeros, Spain |
Died | January 1519 (aged c. 43–44) Acla, Panama |
Cause of death | Execution by decapitation |
Occupations | Maritime explorer for the Crown of Castile |
Spouse | María de Peñalosa |
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He traveled to the New World in 1500 and, after some exploration, settled on the island of Hispaniola. He founded the settlement of Santa María la Antigua del Darién in present-day Colombia in 1510, which was the first permanent European settlement on the mainland of the Americas (a settlement by Alonso de Ojeda the previous year at San Sebastián de Urabá had already been abandoned).