Pedro Niño
*The birth of Pedro Niño is celebrated on this date in c. 1455. He was a Black Spanish navigator and explorer.
Pedro Alonso Niño was born in Moguer, Spain he was of mixed heritage of African and Spaniard. He was known as El Negro, and his father was one of the sailors Captured from Elmina. According to The History of Elmina, it was the first African city to trade with the Europeans. He was known as El Negro. He explored the west coast of Africa in his early years.
He piloted the Santa María during Christopher Columbus's first voyage to the Americas in 1492. He accompanied him on his third voyage in 1498 to Trinidad and the mouths of the Orinoco River.
After returning to Spain, Niño made preparations to explore the Indies independently, looking for gold and pearls. Empowered by the Council of Castile to seek out new countries and avoid those already found by Columbus, he committed to giving 20% of his profits to the Spanish Crown. In the company of brothers Luis and Cristóbal de la Guerra, a rich merchant and a pilot, he left San Lucas in May 1499, and after twenty-three days, they arrived at Maracapana.
Visiting the islands of Isla Margarita, Coche, and Cubagua, they exchanged objects of little value for numerous pearls before sailing up the coast to Punta Araya, where they discovered salt mines. After just two months, they were back in Bayona, Spain, stocked with wealth. However, they were accused of cheating King Ferdinand II out of his portion of the spoils. Arrested and with his property confiscated, Niño died before the conclusion of his trial. Pedro Alonso Niño died around 1505. There is a monument to Pedro Alonso Niño in the Convent of San Francisco in Moguer, Spain. In 1930, Niño was honored with one of the 33 dioramas at the American Negro Exposition in Chicago.
