ohn Cabot (Giovanni Caboto) was a Venetian explorer and navigator. Inspired by Columbus’ recent voyages to the west, Cabot received funding from Henry VII of England to explore for new lands in 1496. Cabot made his first expedition in the summer of 1496, leaving from Bristol, England, but he ran into bad weather and short of supplies, he turned back to England.

The second expedition left Bristol on 2 May 1497 in a ship called ‘Matthew’ and made landfall somewhere on the coast of North America on 24 June 1497 (St. John’s Day). This discovery marked the first Europeans to set foot on the North American continent since the Vikings in the 11th century.

Though historians have argued where exactly Cabot made landfall, in 1997 the Canadian and UK governments designated Cape Bonavista in Newfoundland as the official place of Cabot’s landing.

Discovery Day had been a statutory holiday from 1962 until 1992, when it was removed from the Shops Closing Act.

Since 1997, Discovery Day has also been known as Cabot 500 Day marking the 500th anniversary of the discovery.