Unlike today’s turn-by-turn navigation, a 16th-century GPS might have been all about survival: avoiding bandit-prone roads, timing tides for river crossings, or tracking stars as backup.

The journeys of 15th- and 16th-century European explorers are depicted on Cantino’s map including Vasco da Gama’s first voyage in search of a sea route to India (1497-99) and the “discovery ...

In the 16th century, explorers’ sailing ships were the backbone of the Age of Exploration, enabling voyages across vast oceans to discover new lands, establish trade routes, and map the unknown world.