Ferdinand Magellan (1480 - 1521) | World's 100 Greatest People

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Ferdinand Magellan, or Fernão de Magalhães, was a Portuguese mariner whose expedition was the first to circumnavigate the globe in 1519-22 in the service of Spain. Magellan was killed on the voyage in what is today the Philippines, and only 22 of the original 270 crew members made it back to Europe.

Discovering what became known as the Straits of Magellan in southern Patagonia and a passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean, the voyage achieved its goal of showing that a route to Asia could be found by sailing west from Europe. The voyage was full of achievements, notable firsts, and a lifetime’s worth of new sights and experiences. There were also tremendous hardships and a major mutiny. The only ship of the original fleet of five to complete the voyage around the world was the Victoria, commanded by Juan Sebastian Elcano and packed full of precious spices. The round trip had taken three years and covered 60,000 miles. Not for nothing has this first circumnavigation been described as the greatest voyage of exploration ever undertaken.

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WORLD'S 100 GREATEST PEOPLE