America's Hidden History Untold Tales of the First Pilgrims, Fighting Women, and Forgotten Founders Who Shaped a Nation Chapter One Isabella's Pigs 1469 Isabella of Castile and Ferdinand of Aragon are married. 1492 The Reconquest ( la reconquista ) forces the last Moors out of Spain. As part of a revived Inquisition, all Jews are forced to convert or leave Spain. Christopher Columbus arrives in the Caribbean; he names Hispaniola (modern-day Haiti and the Dominican Republic) and founds the settlement of La Navidad. 1497 John Cabot, an Italian sailing for England, sights North America, probably around Newfoundland, and claims the territory for England. 1501 Amerigo Vespucci, sailing for Portugal, reaches the South American coast. Upon his return, he writes to his patron, Lorenzo de' Medici, that he has voyaged to a "new world." A mapmaker attaches Amerigo's name to the New World. 1509 Henry VIII is crowned king of England and marries Catherine of Aragon, daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella. 1516 King Ferdinand dies; Charles I, grandson of Ferdinand and Isabella, inherits the Spanish throne. 1528 Pánfilo de Narváez, accompanied by Cabeza de Vaca, leads a Spanish attempt to conquer Florida. 1531 King Henry VIII divorces Catherine of Aragon to marry Anne Boleyn. In 1534, the Act of Supremacy declares the king to be the head of the Church of England, completing the break with Rome. 1536 John Calvin's Institutes of the Christian Religion is published, expanding the Protestant Reformation. 1539-1543 Hernando de Soto leads a Spanish army through the Southeast; de Soto dies on the banks of the Mississippi on May 21, 1542. 1553 Mary I, daughter of Henry VIII and his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, becomes queen of England. In 1554, she marries Philip II, the future king of Spain, but dies childless in 1558. 1556 Philip II becomes king of Spain. 1558 Queen Elizabeth I succeeds her half sister Queen Mary. 1564 French Huguenots establish Fort Caroline near the St. Johns River in Florida. 1565 St. Augustine, Florida, founded. Fort Caroline massacre. 1588 The Spanish Armada is defeated by a smaller British fleet. America's Hidden History Untold Tales of the First Pilgrims, Fighting Women, and Forgotten Founders Who Shaped a Nation . Copyright © by Kenneth Davis. Reprinted by permission of HarperCollins Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved. Available now wherever books are sold. Excerpted from America's Hidden History: Untold Tales of the First Pilgrims, Fighting Women, and Forgotten Founders Who Shaped a Nation by Kenneth C. Davis All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.
