Vasco da Gama Vasco da Gama Vasco da Gama, 1st Count of Vidigueira (; c. 1460s – 24 December 1524), was a Portuguese explorer and the first European to reach India by sea. His initial voyage to India (1497–1499) was the first to link Europe and Asia by an ocean route, connecting the Atlantic and the Indian oceans and therefore, the West and the Orient. Da Gama's discovery of the sea route to India was significant and opened the way for an age of global imperialism and for the Portuguese to establish a long-lasting colonial empire in Asia. Traveling the ocean route allowed
Ocean to Ocean Bridge into position. The span was floated down river and swung into place carefully and methodically on March 3, 1915, followed by local praise and celebration. Following completion, the Ocean To Ocean Bridge was ceremoniously opened to the public on May 22, 1915. The bridge became a crucial link in the nationwide transcontinental Ocean-to-Ocean Highway and was also the first highway bridge across the lower Colorado River. On November 11, 1926, the bridge became part of U.S. Route 80. The successor to the earlier Ocean-to-Ocean Highway, US 80 became the primary east to west transcontinental highway in Arizona and between the