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Events on Tuesday 21 January 1519 1
1475 – 1519Vasco Nunez de Balboa (1475-1519)Executed 21 January 1519, aged 43Vasco Nunez de Balboa, the Spanish explorer who in 1513 became the first European to sight the Pacific Ocean from the Americas, was beheaded at Acla in Panama. He was convicted of treason and usurpation of authority by his rival and father-in-law, governor Pedrarias Davila. His execution removed Spain's most capable explorer in the isthmus just as plans for Pacific expeditions were taking shape.