Pedro de Mendoza

Pedro de Mendoza , b. 1501 or 1502, d. 1537, Spanish conquistador, first adelantado [civil and military governor] of Río de la Plata (present-day Argentina). After a military career in Europe, he received (1534) from Emperor Charles V a commission to conquer and colonize the Río de la Plata region. With 11 vessels and 1,200 men, he sailed from Sanlúcar de Barrameda in 1535. He reached the estuary of the Río de la Plata in January and founded Buenos Aires in 1536. Attacks by the indigenous people, scarcity of food, and various disasters made the site untenable. Leaving Juan de Ayolas in charge, Mendoza sailed for Spain in 1537 and died at sea. Buenos Aires was abandoned in 1541, by order of Domingo Martínez de Irala, and the colonists moved to Asunción .

Mendoza, Antonio de (c.1490–1552) Spanish colonial administrator. He served as the first viceroy of New Spain (which centred on present-day Mexico City) from 1535 to 1550, and did much to improve relations between Spaniards and American Indians, fostering economic development (especially in mining) and educational opportunities for both groups. From 1551 he was viceroy of Peru.

Diaz de Novaes, Bartholomew (c.1455–1500), also spelt Dias, Portuguese explorer and discoverer of the Cape of Good Hope. He was first heard of in 1481 when he commanded a ship in an expedition to the Gold Coast. By 1487 he had achieved distinction as a navigator and was placed in command of an expedition of three ships to extend Portuguese exploration by sea along the African west coast. His mission was to sail beyond the 22° 10′ S., which had been reached by Diogo Cam (fl. 1482–6).

Diaz sailed his ships as far south as the point in present-day Namibia which today bears his name (26° 38′ S.) where he erected a commemorative pillar. He was then swept southward for thirteen days by strong gales. Steering east as soon as a moderation of the weather permitted, and finding no land after several days, he turned north and made a landfall in February 1488 at Mossel Bay on the south coast of Cape Colony. From there he sailed up the coast, reaching the mouth of the Great Fish River before his officers and men, alarmed by this venturing into the unknown, forced him to return. However, by this time the north-easterly trend of the coast made it clear that the southernmost point of Africa had been rounded.

On his return voyage, Diaz sighted a distinctive cape and named it the Cape of Storms (Cabo Tormentoso), but either he or King John of Portugal later renamed it the Cape of Good Hope. Diaz received little or no reward for his discovery and was only second in command to Pedro Cabral (1467–1530) during the latter's voyage to India in 1500. It was during this voyage that Diaz's ship sank in a storm off his own Cape of Storms.