Bartholomew Diaz (Bartolomeu Dias) was a Portuguese navigator. Born about 1450. Died at sea, May 29, 1500. Diaz was commissioned by John II of Portugal to explore the African coast and to find an ocean route to India. He sailed from Lisbon with three ships in August 1486. At Walvis Bay, off the southwestern coast of Africa, the expedition ran into a gale, which drove Diaz south for 13 days. Unknown to Diaz, he had been driven south of the tip of the African continent. After the storm abated, he steered northeastward along the coast past Mossel Bay to Algoa Bay, both of which he claimed for Portugal.
In 1488, Diaz became the first European to round Cabo Tormentoso, which was later renamed the Cape of Good Hope. In 1497, Díaz helped to outfit the voyage of Vasco da Gama and accompanied Da Gama as far as the Cape Verde Islands. Diaz later returned to Portugal, and in 1500 he commanded a ship in the fleet of Pedro Alvares Cabral that discovered Brazil. After leaving Brazil, Diaz perished in a storm off the Cape of Good Hope.
