da Gama's first journey covered nearly 24,000 miles in close to two years, and only 54 of the crew's original 170 members survived.

Their first ship returned to Portugal on July 10th, a full year after they'd left India.

Early 1499, several of da Gama's men had died of scurvy and in an effort to economize his fleet, da Gama ordered one of his ships to be burned.

After the 1490s King John II of Portugal formed the exploratory fleet with a.

His departure coincided with the start of a monsoon. He was born around 1460s in Sines, Portugal as a son of Knight Estvo da Gama.

August of 1498, da Gama and his crew began their journey back home to Portugal.

A first the local Hindu leader welcomed da Gama and his crew, but not every one liked their presence.

On May 20th, they reached Calicut, India.

Da Gama was said to have been educated in the town of Evora, where he studied navigation and mathematics.

By early April, the fleet reached what is now Kenya, before setting sail on a 23-day run that would take them across the Indian Ocean. Vasco Da Gama was of noble birth and was the son of an explorer, however little else is known about his early life.

By January, as the fleet neared what is now Mozambique, many of da Gama's crew members had contracted scurvy, forcing the expedition to anchor for rest and repairs.

He rounded the Cape of Good Hope and bega n making his way up the eastern coast of Africa, toward the uncharted waters of the Indian Ocean.

In 1460 he was appointed as a knight of the household of Infante Ferdinand, Duke of Viseu. It was either 1460 or 1469 in Sines on the southwest coast of Portugal His father was Estevao da Gama who was also famous in his time.

His choice of direction was also a bit of a rebuke to Christopher Columbus, who had believed he'd found a route to India by sailing east. Historians disagree on the date of Vasco da Gama’s birth. Da Gama directed his ships south, taking advantage of the prevailing winds along the coast of Africa.On July 8 of 1497 he was captain of a team of four ships t o find a sailing route to India and the East.

Vasco da gama birth date