In hopes of finding a route to asia, started the first school to teach sailors about oceanic navigation, mapmaking, and more. he sponsored 14 expeditions in 12 years to try to navigate to . finally, was able to successfully complete the journey. this became a stepping stone to find a maritime route to asia.
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Prince Henry the Navigator started school to teach the sailors about the Oceanic navigation in Portugal in around 1418.

He sponsored 14 expeditions in 12 years to navigate Cape Bojador in Africa.

Gils Eannes finally able to complete the journey by finding the route.  

Explanation:  

Prince Henry the Navigator, a Portuguese prince known for his sponsoring the exploration along the west coast of Africa. He also started the first voyages of exploration in Europe. Because of his patronage, Portuguese sailors were able to find colonies outside Europe and established the first slave trade.

the fact that could also be added to column b is that during world war ii, specifically between the years 1941 and 1945, japan expanded its territory towards the indonesian territory in what was known later as part of the "pacific war". in that time, japan could conquer the philipines, singapore,   borneo, central java, malang, cebu, sumatra and various other islands of the area, therefore expanding its territory for a brief period of time.