Vasco da Gama, a Portuguese explorer, circumnavigated the Cape of Good Hope in 1497 on his route to India on the first journey from Europe.

Vasco da Gama, a Portuguese explorer, circumnavigated the Cape of Good Hope on his way to India for the first time in 1497. He was the first European to sail to India. His first voyage to India via the Cape of Good Hope (1497–1499) was the first to connect Europe and Asia via an ocean route, connecting the Atlantic and Indian oceans, and thus the West and the Orient.
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