Lopes Gonçalves
Portuguese explorer and first European to sail south of the equator
Lopes Gonçalves | |
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Nationality | Portuguese |
Occupation | Sailor |
Known for | First European sailor crossing Earth's equator |
Lopes Gonçalves or Lopo Gonçalves was a Portuguese explorer of the African coast. He was the first European sailor to cross the equator, the first to reach the point where the coast turns south and the first to reach Gabon. In 1473 or 1474 he and Rui de Sequeira, pushing Portuguese exploration east along the Nigerian coast, reached the point where the coast begins to run south. He followed it south, crossed the equator, passed Cape Lopez in Gabon, which is named after him, and reached Cape St. Catherine, which is about 2 degrees south.
References
- J. H. Parry, The Age of Reconnaissance, 1963, page 149
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Portuguese explorers
- Alberto del Canto
- Aleixo Garcia
- Antonio Díaz de Cardoso
- Estêvão Gomes
- Ferdinand Magellan
- Gaspar Castaño de Sosa
- George Ura
- Ginés de Mafra
- Jean Alfonse
- Juan Díaz de Solís
- Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo
- Luis de Carvajal y de la Cueva
- Luís Vaz de Torres
- Manuel de Mederos
- Ñuño Fernández Lobo
- Pedro Fernandes de Queirós
- Sebastião Rodrigues Soromenho
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