Giovanni Caboto was a daring, well-known explorer. He was also known as John Cabot. The bold decision that John Cabot made was to journey on the Matthew ship to find routes to the east. What he didn’t know was, there was more land. Fasten your seat belt and learn about how John Cabot explored North America, which he thought was Asia.

John Cabot was born around 1450. His father was probably named Egidius Caboto. His mother is unknown. He was born in Genoa, Italy. John Cabot has spaces in his life that are unknown, mostly in his childhood. As a child, John Cabot did not learn English at school. Researchers believe that he learned from sailors.

Caboto means seaman. John Cabot was about to embark on a journey full of danger, but first, he needed someone to sponsor the trip. He went to the king of Spain and the king of Portugal. They both turned him down. Everyone was turning him down. He had a wife and three sons to manage, anyway. King Henry VII was the answer to his problem. King Henry sponsored his journey. The ship left toward the end of May 1497. John Cabot and his crew were afraid of a storm hitting their ship, but some crew members suffered diseases such as scurvy. They all got lost at sea for about a month, but finally, land!

John Cabot and his crew were never heard of again. People believe that they died at sea in 1499.

Again, John Cabot is famous for gliding through the ocean, and setting foot on what we now call North America!

Bibliography

1.Groundbreakers John Cabot

by Neil Champion

published by Heinemann Library ©2001

2.http://library.thinkquest.org/4034/cabot.html

3.http://www.enchantedlearning.com/explorers/index.shtml