Diogo cao biography definition
Biography examples for students...
Diogo Cão was a Portuguese captain, navigator, sailor and explorer. During his two expeditions, he charted the coast of West Africa and established settlements in what is now Angola.
Diogo cao biography definition
He was also the first European to discover and enter the Congo River, earning him a name as one of the most important sailor-explorers of the 15th century.
Diogo Cão was born around 1450 in Vila Real, Portugal. He was the illegitimate son of the royal family of nobleman Goncalves Cão.
He married and had four children, Manuela Cão, Pedro Cão, Andre Cão and Isabel Cão. He died in 1486 during his second expedition to Africa.
Diogo Cão’s first expedition
Around 1482, King John II of Portugal commissioned Diogo Cão to explore the African coast south of the equator.
Diogo Cão set out on an expedition with ships filled with stone pillars engraved with Portuguese royal coats of arms and crosses of Christ. The stone pillars, called padrão in Portuguese, were to be placed at each newly discovered locat