Fact 2: Like Christopher Columbus, John Cabot thought North America was China. He claimed the land for England

Fact 3: He explored the coastline of Canada the colonization of Canada followed

Fact 4: Cabot was the second European to find North America (after Christopher Columbus)

Fact 5: When was John Cabot born? He was born c. 1450

Fact 6: What was his country of origin and where was he born? He was born in Italy but he moved to England and made explorations on behalf of the English King

Fact 7: His Italian name was Giovanni Caboto - the Italian word ‘Caboto’ means “a coastal seaman”. This name was often given to sailors and navigators

Fact 8: He had three sons, Ludovico, Sebastiano, and Sancto

Fact 9: His son, Sebastian Cabot became famous for searching for the Northwest passage across North America, attempting to circumnavigate the world and expeditions to Russia

Fact 10: John Cabot came from a wealthy merchant family trading in spices

Fact 11: His education included learning about cartography, navigation, astronomy, mathematics and seamanship

Fact 12: In 1492 Christopher Columbus discovered America, the New World, and at the same time John Cabot moved to Bristol in England

Fact 13: John Cabot received the patronage of the King Henry VII who granted him the right to 'seek islands and countries of the heathen towards the west, east, and north' sailing under the English flag

Fact 14: John Cabot hired a crew to sail his small ship that was called the Matthew

Fact 15: On May 2, 1497 John Cabot embarked on his ship, the Matthew, to explore the lands across the Atlantic Ocean

Fact 16: John Cabot was hoping to find a north west passage to the Indies and China

Fact 17: On June 9, 1497 John Cabot reached the New World.

Fact 18: The landing place is disputed as either being Cape Breton Island or Labrador

Fact 19: John Cabot and his crew of the Matthew landed the ship in Bristol in August 1497 to great acclaim

Fact 20: He was given a gift of £10 for having "found the new isle."

Fact 21: He was granted another patent to undertake a second expedition.

Fact 22: John Cabot assembled a small fleet of five ships and 300 men which eventually sailed along the east coast of America past Newfoundland

Fact 23: He set sail on his second expedition on July 25 1498

Fact 24: John Cabot crossed the Davis Strait on to Baffin Land on to Newfoundland

Fact 25: He then followed the coast Nova Scotia and New England

Fact 26: John Cabot returned to England and died shortly after c. 1499