5th Portuguese India Armada (Albuquerque, 1503) Cape Verde, the first squadron of Afonso de Albuquerque struck out into the south Atlantic, following the South Atlantic Gyre. Along the way, Albuquerque came across Ascension Island. Although the island had already been discovered back in 1501 by the Third Armada of João da Nova (and named "ilha da Conceição" then), Albuquerque renamed it "ilha da Ascensão" on account of it being Ascension Day (May 21), the name that has since stuck. Strong south-westerly winds pushed them towards the coast of Brazil, where Albuquerque made a brief stop to take on water (exactly where is uncertain), before making his
Afonso de Albuquerque and established the first European permanent settlement on Chinese soil, which served as a permanent colonial base in southern China, and the two empires maintained an exchange in culture and trade for nearly 500 years. The longest empire in history (1515–1999), begun by Afonso de Albuquerque five centuries earlier, ended when Portugal ceded the government of Macau to China. Afonso de Albuquerque pioneered trade relations with Thailand, and was as such the first recorded European to contact Thailand. Afonso de Albuquerque had a bastard son with an unrecorded woman. He legitimized the boy in February 1506. Before his death, he