Sources for images used in this section, as they appear, from top to bottom:

• First Voyage, Departure for the New World, August 3, 1492, Library of Congress
• Vasco da Gama por Charles Legrand, Biblioteca Nacional de Portugal, Wikimedia
• Juan Ponce de Leon, joanjc, Wikimedia
• Strait of Magellan, Neutrality, Wikimedia
• Usgs map mercator, Wikipedia
• Voc, Eriksw, Wikipedia