[Legacy] Descendants memorial at Reno Nevada
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GT.US
N 39° 31.865 W 119° 48.868
11S E 258104 N 4379497
A descendant of Vasco da Gama proudly displays her heritage in a store window in Reno, Nevada. This memorial is no lnger persent at this location.
Waymark Code: WM8QW1
Location: Nevada, United States
Date Posted: 05/04/2010
Views: 33
The sign reads:
"Owner of Palace Jewelry and Loan, Joan Mack, is a descendant of Dom Vasco da Gama, first count of Vidigueira Portugal, born in either 1460 or 1469 - 24 December 1524 in Sines, on the southwest coast of Portugal. A Portuguese explorer, one of the most successful in the European age of discovery, and the commander of the first ships to sail directly from Europe to India.
Vasco da Gama's father was Estêvão da Gama. In the 1460s he was a knight in the household of the Duke of Viseu, Dom Fernando.
First Voyage:
On 8 July 1497 the fleet, consisting of four ships and a crew of 170 men, left Lisbon. Gama took a course south into the open ocean, crossing the Equator. This course proved successful and on November 4, 1497, the expedition made landfall on the African coast. By far the longest journey out of sight of land made by the time. With Christmas pending, Gama and his crew gave the coast they were passing the name Natal, which carried the connotation of "birth of Christ" in Portuguese.
Second Voyage:
On 12 February 1502, Gama sailed with a fleet of fifteen ships and eight hundred men, with the object of enforcing Portuguese interests in the east. He returned to Portugal with silks and gold.
Third Voyage:
Having acquired a fearsome reputation as a "fixer" of problems that arose in India, Vasco da Gama was sent to the subcontinent once more in 1524. The intention was that he was to replace the incompetent Eduardo de Menezes as viceroy (representative) of the Portuguese possessions, but Gama contracted malaria not long after arriving in Goa and died in the city of Cochin on Christmas Eve in 1524.
His body was first buried at St. Francis Church, which was located at Fort Kochi in the city of Kochi, but his remains were returned to Portugal in 1539. The body of Vasco da Gama was re-interred in Vidigueira in a casket decorated with gold and jewels.
Gama and his wife had six sons and one daughter. His male line issue became extinct in 1747, though the title went through female line.
The 17th count Vasco da Gama was a guest on "What's My Line?" In 1958 he was a pool table salesman - repairman from Brooklyn.
Vasco da Gama was responsible for Portugal's success as an early colonizer.
Related website: Not listed
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