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Giovanni da Verrazzano
Italian navigator
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Also known as: Giovanni da Verrazano
Giovanni da Verrazzano
- Died:
- 1528 (aged 43) Lesser Antilles West Indies
Giovanni da Verrazzano, Verrazzano also spelled Verrazano, (born 1485, Tuscany [Italy]—died 1528, Lesser Antilles), Italian navigator and explorer for France who was the first European to sight New York and Narragansett bays. After his education in Florence, Verrazzano moved to Dieppe, France, and entered that nation’s maritime service. He made several voyages to the Levant, and in 1523 he secured two ships for a voyage backed by the French king to discover a westward passage to Asia. In January 1524 he sailed one of those vessels, La Dauphine, to the New World and reached Cape Fear about the beginning of ...(100 of 267 words)