Five hundred years ago, on April 17, Giovanni da Verrazzano and his crew were the first Europeans to sail into the estuary of what is now New York Harbor. Under Verrazzano’s command, they first landed at Cape Fear in North Carolina in March of 1524 and then traveled northeast along the coast of North America, leading into the New York Bay.

Sailing for King Francis I of France, it is noted that Verrazzano first served as a navigator in the French navy, moving to Dieppe, a seaport town on the northern coast of France, when he was in his late teens or early twenties.