Vasco Nunez de Balboa was the first European to spot the Pacific Ocean. In addition, he helped found the first successful European colony on the American continent.
Balboa was born in Spain in 1475. He left for America in 1500 and settled for a few years on the island of Hispaniola (where Haiti and the Dominican Republic are today) in the Antilles. In 1510, he embarked with a group for a colony already established by the Spanish in present-day Colombia. Upon arrival, he discovered that the colony had been abandoned. Balboa convinced the few remaining inhabitants to go with him to Darién, in present-day Panama. There they created a stable colony.