First English Colony in North America- 425th Founding Anniversary

August 5, 1583- Sir Humphrey Gilbert, English navigator and explorer, aboard his sailing ship, the Squirrel, sighted the Newfoundland coast and took possession of the area around St. John's harbor in the name of the Queen, thus establishing the first English colony in North America. Gilbert was lost at sea, in a storm off the Azores, on his return trip to England.