Ponce de Leon’s expedition, departing from Puerto…
March 1513 CE
Ponce de Leon’s expedition, departing from Puerto Rico, sails northwest along the great chain of Bahama Islands, known then as the Lucayos.
On March 27, Easter Sunday, they sight an island that is unfamiliar to the sailors on the expedition.
Because many Spanish seamen are acquainted with the Bahamas, which has been depopulated by slaving ventures, some scholars believe that this "island" was actually Florida, as it was thought to be an island for several years after its formal discovery.
Other scholars have speculated that this island was one of the northern Bahama islands, perhaps Great Abaco.