Birthdate: 1475 AD
Birthplace: Jerez de los Caballeros, Spain
Died: January 15, 1519
Vasco Núñez de Balboa was a Spanish explorer, governor, and conquistador recognized for leading an expedition across the Isthmus of Panama to the Pacific Ocean in 1513. This achievement marked him as the first European to reach the Pacific from the New World. In 1510, he established the settlement of Santa María la Antigua del Darién in present-day Colombia, which became the first permanent European settlement on the mainland of the Americas. Balboa’s contributions were pivotal in the early Spanish exploration and colonization of the Americas.
