Explorers

Explorer · 1480 – 1521

Ferdinand Magellan was a Portuguese explorer who, in the service of Spain, led the first expedition to circumnavigate the globe, proving the world could be sailed around even though he died midway through the voyage.

• First circumnavigation of the globe
• Strait of Magellan

Explorer · 1451 – 1506

Christopher Columbus was an Italian explorer who, sailing for Spain in 1492, opened sustained European contact with the Americas — a voyage of immense and deeply controversial consequence.

• Reaching the Americas in 1492
• Opening the Age of Exploration

Explorer · 1728 – 1779

James Cook was a British explorer, navigator and cartographer whose three Pacific voyages charted New Zealand, the eastern coast of Australia and many Pacific islands with unprecedented accuracy.

• Mapping New Zealand and eastern Australia
• Three Pacific voyages

Explorer · 1254 – 1324

Marco Polo was a Venetian merchant and explorer whose travels across Asia to the court of Kublai Khan, recorded in The Travels of Marco Polo, gave medieval Europe its most influential account of the East.

• The Travels of Marco Polo
• Journey to Yuan China

Admiral · 1371 – 1433

Zheng He was a Chinese admiral and explorer of the Ming dynasty who commanded vast treasure fleets on seven voyages across the Indian Ocean, reaching as far as Arabia and East Africa.

• Ming treasure voyages
• Commanding vast fleets

Explorer · 1460 – 1524

Vasco da Gama was a Portuguese explorer and navigator who opened the first sea route from Europe to India around the southern tip of Africa, transforming global trade.

• First sea route from Europe to India
• Rounding the Cape of Good Hope

Conquistador · 1485 – 1547

Hernán Cortés was a Spanish conquistador who led the expedition that overthrew the Aztec Empire, bringing much of Mexico under Spanish rule and inaugurating centuries of colonial domination.

• Conquest of the Aztec Empire
• Capture of Tenochtitlan