Ferdinand Magellan
Florida TodayFerdinand Magellan.
Although Ferdinand Magellan never set out to complete this accomplishment, Magellan’s voyage to the East wound up being the first successful circumnavigation of the globe.
Magellan was born in Sabrosa, Portugal, in 1480. His adventurous spirit had been with him since childhood when he and his brother traveled to Lisbon at just 12-years-old.
From 1505 to 1519, Magellan led several expeditions and was injured in various battles. He was valiant, though, and continued his adventurous exploits.
In 1519, Magellan led a fleet of five ships westward out to sea in order to find the so-called spice islands. He crossed the Atlantic Ocean and reached South America just over a month after setting sail.
There he was able to cross through a treacherous strait that was dubbed the Strait of Magellan, that allowed him to reach the other side of South America. The strait lies in the southmost point of South America, which is now modern-day Chile.
PicrylFerdinand Magellan.
Before Magellan discovered his strait, the Atlantic Ocean was the only ocean that was known to exist. It was referred to as Ocean Sea, but as the world would soon discover, it was not the only ocean in existence.
Magellan spent more than a month traveling through the strait before reaching its end. Although he and his crew expected to see land from afar on the other side, to Magellan’s surprise he found another vast ocean before him. The only thing to do was to cross it.
Magellan and his crew eventually reached the Philippines, but they were not welcomed with open arms. On the island of Cebu, Magellan would up befriending the locals, who he asked to assist them when the neighboring island of Mactan attacked their fleet.
The famous explorer Magellan, unfortunately, was shot during a battle with the people of Mactan, and he died on April 27, 1521.
Although he’d never reach the spice islands, Magellan’s courageous journey would become instrumental in understanding what the globe looked like.
Hernán Cortés
Wikimedia CommonsHernán Cortés.
Hernán (or Hernando) Cortés was born in 1485 in Medellín, Spain. He began his life as an explorer after he joined Diego Velázquez in his voyage to the Dominican Republic.
Once their fleet reached the island, Velázquez successfully conquered it and effectively became its governor. It was then that Cortés persuaded his commander to allow him to lead a voyage of his own even further west toward Mexico.
Cortés was on a treasure hunt of sorts. He had heard that the recently discovered land where modern Mexico lies today was filled with a tremendous wealth of riches.
Wikimedia CommonsHernán Cortés
At first, he was given permission, but then Velázquez canceled the trip right before it happened because he began to grow suspicious of Cortés’ motives.
But the adventurous nature of Cortés didn’t care about what his commander had ordered and he went on his voyage anyway.
When Cortés arrived in the Aztec capital city of Tenochtitlán, it was believed that his coming coincided with the ancient Aztec prophecy of a white-skinned god arriving from the east.
The Aztec leader Montezuma II initially welcomed Cortés but tensions soon began to arise and Cortés took Montezuma hostage, asking him for a ransom.
An Aztec uprising ensued and they forced Cortés and the Spaniards out from their territory. But Cortés returned and overthrew the Aztec nation in 1521, securing his control over Mexico.
Cortés eventually became governor of New Spain in 1523, finally achieving the wealth and success that he had longed for at the start of his career. Perhaps his captain was right to be suspicious of the famous explorer, as his motives proved to be ones of self-indulgence, greed, and power.
After this look at famous explorers, read more about explorer Percy Fawcett’s mysterious disappearance. Then, learn about Richard Francis Burton, the explorer, poet, and spy extraordinaire.
