1474 | Born in Santervás De Campos, Valladolid Province, Spain |
1474 | Baptized in Catholic Church in Santervás De Campos, Valladolid Province, Spain |
1493 | At age 19, joined Columbus' second voyage to the Indies |
1493-1506 | Served as the Governor of the Dominican Republic |
1506-1513 | At age 32, after the untimely death of his wife, Ponce de Leon spent the next seven years raising his motherless children. |
1509 | At age 35, confirmed as Governor of Puerto Rico |
1512 | At age 38, was issued an official charter by the Spanish Crown to seek and claim the mysterious "island of Beniny", to the north |
Early 1513 | Prepared three ships, two caravels, the "Santiago" and the "Santa Maria de la Consolación, and a bergantina, the "San Cristóbal", at his own expense, to undertake the journey. |
3 March 1513 | Departed from Punta Aguada on the western shore of Puerto Rico |
8 March 1513 | Anchored at El Viego" (Grand Turk) after 3 1/2 days' sail |
9 March 1513 | Anchored at "Caycos" (E. Caicos) after an easy days' sail |
10 March 1513 | Anchored at Yaguna" (N. Caicos)after an easy days' sail |
11-12 March 1513 | Hove to off "Amaguayo" (Mayaguana) after an overnight sail |
13 March 1513 | Passed "Manegua" (Samana Cay) during an overnight sail |
14-25 March 1513 | Anchored at "Guanahani" (San Salvador), provisioned and re-rigged the vessels for an anticipated long ocean passage to Beimeni. |
27 March 1513 | Passed an "unidentified island" (Eleuthera) on a heading of Northwest. |
29-30 March 1513 | Hove to during storm and changed heading to West Northwest |
2 April 1513 | Anchored at 28 degrees N. latitude and 80 degrees 29 minutes W. longitude, south of Cape Canaveral, Florida, at Melbourne Beach, Florida.. |
3 April 1513 | Made landfall and named the land "La Florida". This was the first landing in Florida. |
2-8 April 1513 | Explored the area between Melbourne Beach and Jupiter Inlet. |
8-20 April 1513 | Explored the area between Jupiter Inlet and Lake Worth Inlet. |
20 April - 20 May 1513 | Explored the East Coast of Florida. |
21 May - 21 June 1513 | Explored the West Coast of Florida, especially the area around Sanibel Island. |
Mid October 1513 | Returned to Puerto Rico. |
1514 | Ponce de Leon returned to Spain to report on his voyage and to lay claim to the newly discovered island of La Florida. |
1514 | Spanish King Ferdinand conferred on Ponce de Leon the title of "Adelantado" or governor of the island of La Florida, and authorized him to establish a permanent settlement, but, only after he cleared the islands east and south of Puerto Rico of the threat of the Carib indians. |
1514 -1521 | Ponce de Leon eliminated the threat of the Carib indians in the islands, as instructed by King Ferdinand. |
26 February 1521 | Ponce de Leon sailed from Puerto Rico in two ships loaded with settlers and gear to establish a permanent settlement and fort on the shores of La Florida. They are believed to have chosen Sanibel Island as the site. |
March - July 1521 | After many attacks by the Calusa Indians, and after receiving a painful wound, Ponce de Leon abandoned the settlement effort and returned to the safety of Cuba. |
July 1521 | Ponce de Leon died from his festered wound in Puerto Principe, Cuba, at the age of 47. |
Later in the 1500s | Ponce de Leon's remains were removed to San Juan de Puerto where they now rest in the Cathedral of San Juan. |