A reply to /u/xFlacky

To say that Europe started discovering the world in 1500 is to miss the key developments and explorations by the Portuguese starting in the early 1400s, and the Viking voyages prior to that period.

Prince Henry the Navigator, of the Portuguese royal family, saw the capture of Ceuta in northern Morroco in a fight against Mediterranean piracy. The Portuguese were interested in exploring the coast of north west and western Africa for a variety of reasons, including the gold trade, slave trade, and the legend of Prester John.

Under Prince Henry's direction, a systematic effort to collect and study maps, develop navigation aids, train sailors and navigators, found military orders to support the voyages, and develop sailing technology, was started. The state started to sponsor exploration voyages.

The Portuguese started to develop the caravel, a highly maneuverable vessel suitable for exploration further down the coast of west Africa. Importantly, they were able to tack, that is to sail against the wind. So, they were not limited to manpower as Mediterranean galleys were, nor were they hostage to wind patterns. This is the vessel used by explorers Bartolomeu Dias, Vasco da Gama, Albuquerque, Magellan, et al. Over time, the larger carrack was developed to increase capacity for long-range voyages.

The Spanish were behind Portugal, but in a huge way they jumped the gun with their sponsorship of Columbus' voyage despite well-placed criticism that his proposal was fatally flawed, and with pushing for the settlement of Tordesilas. The competition between these two powers would have enormous consequences as the era of global exploration and colonization began.

As to your assertion that they "stop doing so in the 1700's" I don't think this is true at all. I don't know what makes you think that is true at all. The exploration never stopped. But the nature of colonization changed over time. And that's a different subject altogether.