About 1000

AD Norse explorers come to Newfoundland and Labrador. A small settlement is made at L'Anse aux Meadows.

1400s to 1500s

Basque, Portuguese, Spanish, French and English ships fish the waters around Newfoundland and coastal Labrador. 

1497

John Cabot makes a voyage for King Henry VII of England. He is believed to have sailed from Labrador to Nova Scotia, and found a "new isle" thought to be Newfoundland.  

1500

The Portuguese explorer Gaspar Corte-Real sails here and names several capes and bays along the east coast of Newfoundland.  

1535-36

The French explorer Jacques Cartier shows that Newfoundland is an island by sailing around it.

1540s

The Basques make a whaling station at what is now Red Bay in coastal Labrador. They use it in the summers until about 1600.  

1583

Humphrey Gilbert arrives in St. John's to claim the territory around it for England and begins a colony. Spanish and Portuguese ships are in the harbour at the time. 

1610

John Guy begins a settlement at Cupids, Conception Bay (called Cupers Cove). He brings 39 settlers with him. 

1627

The French king grants Newfoundland to the Compagnie Des Cents-Associes (the Company of 100 Associates). This gives the French a claim on Newfoundland. 

1628

John Guy sends the first iron ore samples from Bell Island to England.