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Apr 8, 2019 · Juan Ponce de León: Meet the Spanish explorer who discovered Florida. Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León crashed into what's now known as St. Augustine on April 8, 1513. ...more....
- 2 min
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- 10 Tampa Bay
Apr 5, 2022 · Juan Ponce de Leon was famous for his quest for the fountain of youth. But is there more myth than truth to this legend? Learn more about de Leon's journeys to the Caribbean and the...
- 5 min
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- Gerry Dincher
Dec 4, 2020 · This is "The Untold History", a podcast to tell the story of the feats of unknown Spanish characters who have helped to shape the history of the United State...
- 10 min
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- The Hispanic Council
- Early Life and Career
- Exploration of Puerto Rico
- Fountain of Youth
- Ponce de León in Florida
- Legacy
- Sources
Born in 1460 into a noble family in León, Spain, Juan Ponce served as a page in the royal court of Aragon. He later became a soldier, fighting in the Spanish campaign against the Moors in Granada. After that war ended, he may have gone along on the second voyage to the West Indies led by Christopher Columbusin 1493. Nearly a decade later, he was se...
Rumors of a place called Boriquen — where large deposits of gold were to be found — led Ponce de León to the nearby island of San Juan Bautista, as Puerto Ricowas then known. The Spanish crown to give Ponce de León permission to explore the island in 1508-09. (He may have unofficially traveled there on his own before that.) On the official expediti...
Encouraged by the Spanish crown to discover more lands, Ponce de León allegedly decided to follow rumors he had heard from local natives about an island called Bimini, home to a magical spring or fountain whose waters would rejuvenate those who drank from it. In search of this “fountain of youth,” as well as more lands and gold, he set sail from Pu...
coast of mainland North America. He named the site Florida, not only because they landed around the time of Easter (Pascua Florida in Spanish), but also because of the region’s lush, florid vegetation. On that first expedition to Florida, Ponce de León explored the coast, including the Florida Keys, and discovered the Gulf Stream, the warm ocean cu...
Ponce de León never found the Fountain of Youth— perhaps because he never looked for such a thing, according to researchers. No mention of a mythical fountain appears in any records or documents from that era, and some historians believe it was a tall tale designed to discredit Ponce del León by making him appear foolish. Nonetheless, there exists ...
Ponce de León: Florida's First Spanish Explorer. University of South Florida: Exploring Florida. Ponce De Leon Never Searched for the Fountain of Youth. Smithsonian Magazine. Juan Ponce De Leon. The Mariners’ Museum and Park. Timeline of Significant Events. Fountain of Youth Archaeological Park
In March 1521, Ponce de León finally returned to Southwest Florida with the first large-scale attempt to establish a Spanish colony in what is now the continental United States. However, the native Calusa people fiercely resisted the incursion, and Ponce de Léon was seriously wounded in a skirmish.
Juan Ponce de León (born 1460?, Santervás de Campos, Valladolid, León [Spain]—died 1521, Havana, Cuba) was a Spanish explorer who founded the first European settlement on Puerto Rico and who is credited with being the first European to reach Florida in 1513.
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Aug 2, 2023 · Spanish conquistador Juan Ponce de León led a European expedition for gold, which eventually brought him to the southeast coast of what would become the United States.
