Vasco da Gama (1460 or 1469 - December 24th, 1524) was a Portuguese sailor. He was the first European who went to India through the Cape of Good Hope at the southern end of Africa. He went to India three times by ship.
Da Gama was born in Sines, Portugal. His birthday was June 5th.
On the 4th of July 1497 da Gama left Lisbon with four ships: the São Gabriel, the São Rafael, the Berrio, and a storage ship of unknown name. He intended to sail to India. No European explorer before him had sailed further than the place that is now called South Africa. Vasco da Gama sailed around the bottom of the African continent. Da Gama's crew gave the South African coast they were passing the name Natal, which means "Christmas" in Portuguese. They did this because they sailed by it at Christmas. The coast is still called Natal.
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