Giovanni da Verrazzano was an explorer who became the first European to sight New York and Narragansett Bay, while sailing across the Atlantic to explore the American coast and to try and discover a westerly passage to Asia.
In March 1524, the explorer set out on a voyage in his ship La Dauphine. He reached Cape Fear on the Florida peninsula. From there Verrazzano sailed northwards exploring the eastern coast of North America.
Giovanni Verrazzano made many discoveries during his voyage. The most significant one is the present day New York harbour. He is also credited with completing all the mapping of the east coast of America as he could piece together the north and south.
Giovanni Verrazzano identified that North and South Americas were two separate continents and they were joined together by a narrow strip of land. Verrazzano returned to France on 8th July 1524.
Verrazzano undertook two more voyages to the Americas. During the second voyage, he made landfall on the Lesser Antilles. He anchored his ship off one of the islands and when he went ashore, he was captured, and killed.