On This Day
·

English explorer Henry Hudson is the first European to sail into Delaware Bay, naming it South Bay

Henry Hudson (1565 – disappeared 23 June 1611) was an English sea explorer and navigator during the early 17th century, best known for his explorations of present-day Canada and parts of the...

Henry Hudson (1565 – disappeared 23 June 1611) was an English sea explorer and navigator during the early 17th century, best known for his explorations of present-day Canada and parts of the Northeastern United States.

In 1607 and 1608, Hudson made two attempts on behalf of English merchants to find a rumoured Northeast Passage to Cathay via a route above the Arctic Circle. In 1609, he landed in North America on behalf of the Dutch East India Company and explored the region around the modern New York metropolitan area. Looking for a Northwest Passage to Asia on his ship Halve Maen ("Half Moon"), he sailed up the Hudson River, which was later named after him, and thereby laid the foundation for Dutch colonization of the region.

Historical Significance

Henry Hudson (1565 – disappeared 23 June 1611) was an English sea explorer and navigator during the early 17th century, best known for his explorations of present-day Canada and parts of the Northeastern United States.

Key People

Henry Hudson

explorer

English explorer

Events Before

  1. English traveller Robert Shirley marries Iranian noblewoman Teresa Sampsonia at the Safavid royal court

    Teresa Sampsonia was a Circassian-English noblewoman of Safavid Iran. She was the wife of the Elizabethan English adventurer Robert Shirley, whom she accompanied on his travels and embassies across...

  2. Reynier van Oldenbarnevelt marries Anna Weytzen in Delft

    Reynier van Oldenbarnevelt marries Anna Weytzen in Delft

  3. Fire destroys Jamestown, Virginia

    This is a timeline of events related to the establishment of Jamestown, which today is located the U.S. state of Virginia.

  4. Susenyos is formally crowned Emperor of Ethiopia

    Susenyos I (Ge'ez: ሱስንዮስ Sūsinyōs; c. 1571–1575 – 17 September 1632), also known as Susenyos the Catholic, was Emperor of Ethiopia from 1607 to 1632, and a member of the Solomonic dynasty.

  5. Dutch trading ship arrives at the kingdom of Loango (modern Congo) to acquire ivory, their king requests audience with V

    Dutch trading ship arrives at the kingdom of Loango (modern Congo) to acquire ivory, their king requests audience with VOC official Pieter van den Broecke [1]

Events After

  1. Galileo Galilei discovers the first three moons of Jupiter: Io, Europa and Ganymede

    There are 97 known moons of the planet Jupiter. This number does not include a number of meter-sized moonlets thought to be shed from the inner moons, nor hundreds of possible kilometer-sized outer…

  2. First Dutch settlers arrive from New Jersey to colonize Manhattan Island

    First Dutch settlers arrive from New Jersey to colonize Manhattan Island

  3. John Guy sets sail from Bristol with 39 other colonists for Newfoundland

    John Guy sets sail from Bristol with 39 other colonists for Newfoundland

  4. Polish King Wladyslaw IV Vasa claims crown as King of Russia (disputed)

    Władysław IV Vasa or Ladislaus IV (9 June 1595 – 20 May 1648) was King of Poland, Grand Duke of Lithuania and claimant of the thrones of Sweden and Russia.

  5. Henry IV of France dies

    Henry IV of France dies

More from the 1600s

Scotland begins its numbered year on January 1 instead of March 25

A leap year (also known as an intercalary year or bissextile year) is a calendar year that contains an additional day (or, in the case of a lunisolar calendar, a month) compared to a common year.

First edition of "El ingenioso hidalgo don Quijote de la Mancha" (Part One of Don Quixote) by Miguel de Cervantes is pub

First edition of "El ingenioso hidalgo don Quijote de la Mancha" (Part One of Don Quixote) by Miguel de Cervantes is published in Madrid

English traveller Robert Shirley marries Iranian noblewoman Teresa Sampsonia at the Safavid royal court

Teresa Sampsonia was a Circassian-English noblewoman of Safavid Iran. She was the wife of the Elizabethan English adventurer Robert Shirley, whom she accompanied on his travels and embassies across...

A fleet of five British East India Company vessels departs on its first voyage from London, led by James Lancaster comma

A fleet of five British East India Company vessels departs on its first voyage from London, led by James Lancaster commanding the "Red Dragon"; the journey lasts nearly 16 months

Frequently Asked Questions

What happened on August 28, 1609?
Henry Hudson (1565 – disappeared 23 June 1611) was an English sea explorer and navigator during the early 17th century, best known for his explorations of present-day Canada and parts of the Northeastern United States. In 1607 and 1608, Hudson made two attempts on behalf of English merchants to find a rumoured Northeast Passage to Cathay via a route above the Arctic Circle. In 1609, he landed in North America on behalf of the Dutch East India Company and explored the region around the modern New York metropolitan area.
Why is English explorer Henry Hudson is the first European to sail into Delaware Bay... significant?
Henry Hudson (1565 – disappeared 23 June 1611) was an English sea explorer and navigator during the early 17th century, best known for his explorations of present-day Canada and parts of the Northeastern United States.
Who was involved in English explorer Henry Hudson is the first European to sail into Delaware Bay...?
Key figures include Henry Hudson (explorer).

Explore More

August 28 in HistoryYear 1609