2020-04-22 Wed

Pedro Alvares Cabral was a Portuguese navigator who is generally credited as the first European to reach Brazil. His expedition was also the second from Europe to reach India via the sea route around the Cape of Good Hope.

King Manuel I of Portugal sent Cabral on an expedition to India. Cabral sailed on 9 March 1500, with 13 ships, following the route of Vasco da Gama. Today on 22nd April 1500, he reached the Brazilian coast, claiming it for the Portuguese Crown and naming it the "Island of the True Cross." King Manuel, I renamed this land "Holy Cross"; it was later renamed once again, to "Brazil", after a kind of wood found there, called pau-brasil.

Cabral led the first known expedition to have touched four continents: Europe, Africa, America, and Asia. To celebrate the 500th anniversary of Cabral's birth Portuguese issued a coin of value 50 Escudos. The obverse of a coin depicts Crowned Coat of Arms, the name of the country above, denomination in digits below. The reverse shows Bust of Pedro Alvares Cabral with headdress right within a circle, date below.
br> Image Source: https://en.wikipedia.org