BALBOA, VASCO NEZ DE

born 1475, Jerez de los Caballeros, or Badajoz, Extremadura province, Castile died Jan. 12, 1519, Acla, near Darin, Panama Vasco Nez de Balboa, from a Spanish postage stamp, 1963 Spanish conquistador and explorer, who was head of the first stable settlement on the South American continent (1511) and who was the first European to sight the Pacific Ocean (on Sept. 25 , 1513, from a peak in Darin).