Balboa Becomes First European to See the Pacific Ocean

Vasco Núñez de Balboa leads an expedition of 190 Spaniards and several hundred indigenous guides across the isthmus of Panama. On September 25, 1513, he climbs a peak and becomes the first European to see the Pacific from the Americas. He wades into the sea in full armor and claims the 'South Sea' and all its shores for Spain. The discovery opens the possibility of a Pacific route to Asia and makes Panama the strategic gateway for the conquest of South America.