John Cabot explored the eastern coastline of Canada in 1497. He was searching for the Northwest Passage.
John Cabot was born in Genoa, Italy, around 1450. He was christened Giovanni Caboto, but changed his name to the anglicized translation - John Cabot - when he moved to England.
His father was a merchant, and John followed in his father's footsteps, dealing in spices, silks and precious stones at ports along the eastern Mediterranean. But the sea and exploration interested him more, and he was determined to find the Northwest Passage, a fabled waterway to Asia.
He could find no sponsors in Italy, so finally moved to England where the British throne financed his voyage across the ocean. He sailed for the New World in 1497 in a ship called "Matthew." One of his sons, Sebastian, sailed with him. He landed somewhere in the Newfoundland-Cape Breton Island region. From there he explored the islands and capes along the eastern Canadian coastline.
He claimed the land for England and the English crown and was the first of the explorers from the British Isles. He liked the land and all he saw and was impressed by all the fish. He could scoop them up by the basket full. He had found the famed fish rich Grand Banks off the coast of Newfoundland.
Cabot returned to England a hero and was rewarded by the king. He sailed again in 1498, but this trip may not have gone as well. Nothing much is known about Cabot's second voyage. It's believed he died in England in 1499
