Born 1460,
Tierra de Campos Palencia, Spain
Died July 1521,
Havana, Cuba

Juan Ponce de León was born in the village of Tierra de Campos Palencia in Spain. As a boy he was a page in the royal court of Aragon; later he served in various military campaigns against the Muslims in southern Spain until, in 1492, they were driven out of Granada. After sailing with Christopher Columbus (see entry) in 1493 on his second voyage to the New World, Ponce de León remained in Santo Domingo, which is the present-day Dominican Republic.

Founds oldest settlement

In 1504 Ponce de León took part in a campaign against Native Americans in the Dominican province of Higüey in the northern part of the island. As a reward for Ponce de León’s role in...