Conquest of America (History Channel)

Spanish conquistador Francisco Vasquez de Coronado was the first explorer of North America's Southwest. Fired by tales of the legendary Seven Cities of Cibola and their alleged riches, Coronado left New Spain (Mexico) in 1540 with 300 soldiers and eventually became the first European to set eyes on the Grand Canyon.

In 1562 French naval officer Jean Ribault sailed to America with the goal of establishing a French Protestant colony. Exploring the Florida coastline, Ribault sailed north and built Charlesfort (Port Royal, SC) before returning to a France in the midst of a religious war. He eventually returned to America to help fight Spanish forces at Fort Caroline on the mouth of the St. Johns River in Florida.

Henry Hudson survived mutiny and discovered the mouth of the Hudson River in 1609. In 1610, he returned to a continent in search of a northwest passage, but after a year of enduring extreme cold weather, part of the crew mutinied and set Hudson, his son, and seven others adrift on a small boat, never to be seen again.

In 1724, Danish navigator Vitus Jonassen Bering was sent by Peter the Great to explore the water routes between Siberia and North America, proving that North America and Asia were not connected. In 174, another voyage to North America ended in shipwreck. Bering eventually perished on the uninhabited island subsequently named after him.