John Cabot was the first English explorer to reach North America.

In 1493, shortly after reports arrived in England that Columbus had completed his westward passage to Asia, John Cabot began his plans.  Cabot had great seamanship, perhaps greater even than Columbus.  Cabot believed that the world was larger than Columbus estimated, but he ingeniously realized that that the distance from England to "Asia" would be much shorter by sailing farther north (while Columbus had sailed south to the Canary Islands and then west).

Encarta explanation

Encarta explains Cabot's expeditions, as follows:

The proposed expedition was authorized on March 5, 1496, by King Henry VII of England.  

With a crew of 18 men, Cabot sailed from Bristol on May 2, 1497, on the Matthew.  He steered a generally northwestward course, and on June 24, after a rough voyage, he landed, perhaps on present-day Cape Breton Island;  he subsequently sailed along the Labrador, Newfoundland, and New England coasts.  Believing that he had reached northeastern Asia, he formally claimed the region for Henry VII.  Cabot returned to England in August and was granted a pension.  Assured of royal support, he immediately planned a second exploratory voyage that he hoped would bring him to Cipangu (Japan).  The expedition, consisting of four or five ships and 300 men, left Bristol in May 1498.  The fate of this expedition is uncertain.  It is believed that in June, Cabot reached the eastern coast of Greenland and sailed northward along the coast until his crews mutinied because of the severe cold and forced him to turn southward.  He may have cruised along the coast of North America to Chesapeake Bay at latitude 38° North.  He was forced to return to England because of a lack of supplies, and he died soon afterward.  Id.

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