Bartolomeu Dias
From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Bartolomeu Dias, also known as Bartholomew Dias,(1450 - May 29, 1500) was a Portuguese explorer who was the first European to sail past the Cape of Good Hope. In 1487 King John II from Portugal assigned Dias to search for Prester John a priest & African King's land. He didn't find it but instead in 1488 found a route from the Atlantic Ocean to the Indian ocean leading to Asia. Commanding a ship in Cabral´s expedition to Brazil he died at sea in 1500 during a storm.