Explorers & Voyages

Columbus's 1492 voyage opened sustained European contact with the Americas, though he believed he had reached Asia.

Magellan led the first circumnavigation of the globe but died partway through, before the voyage's completion.

Vasco da Gama became the first European to reach India by sea, opening a lucrative route for Portugal.

James Cook charted much of the Pacific across three voyages, mapping Australia and New Zealand in detail.

Zheng He commanded massive Chinese naval expeditions across the Indian Ocean with fleets larger than Europe's.

Leif Erikson is believed to have reached North America around 1000 AD, centuries before Columbus's voyages.

Amerigo Vespucci argued the Americas were a separate continent, and his name was later given to the landmass.

Bartolomeu Dias became the first European to round southern Africa, opening the route later completed by da Gama.

Marco Polo's travel account, describing the court of Kublai Khan, introduced much of Asia to European readers.

Ibn Battuta journeyed across most of the medieval Islamic world and recorded it in his detailed account, the Rihla.

Lewis and Clark led the first US expedition overland to the Pacific, guided in part by Sacagawea.

Ernest Shackleton kept his entire crew alive after their ship was crushed by Antarctic ice on his famous expedition.

Roald Amundsen became the first to reach the South Pole in 1911, beating a rival British expedition by about a month.

Robert Falcon Scott reached the South Pole shortly after Amundsen but died with his party on the return journey.

Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay achieved the first confirmed ascent of Mount Everest together in 1953.

Sacagawea guided and interpreted for Lewis and Clark, helping the expedition negotiate with Native American groups.

David Livingstone explored central Africa extensively and was later found by journalist Henry Morton Stanley.

Hernán Cortés led the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire, overthrowing Moctezuma II with a small force.

Francisco Pizarro led the Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire and captured the emperor Atahualpa.

Yuri Gagarin became the first human in space in 1961, completing a single orbit of the Earth.

Jacques Cousteau pioneered underwater exploration and filmmaking, co-inventing an early aqualung diving device.

Henry Hudson searched for a route to Asia through North America, leaving his name on a major river and bay.

Juan Ponce de León led the first documented European expedition to Florida and is linked to the fountain of youth legend.

Neil Armstrong became the first human to walk on the Moon while commanding the Apollo 11 mission.