Ferdinand Magellan led the first expedition to sail all the way around the world.

He also discovered a passage from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean that is today called the Straights of Magellan. Ferdinand Magellan was born in 1480 in northern Portugal. He grew up in a wealthy family and served as a page in the royal court. He enjoyed sailing and exploring and sailed for Portugal for many years. Magellan had traveled to India by sailing around Africa, but he had the idea that there may be another route by traveling west and around the Americas. The King of Portugal did not agree and argued with Magellan. Finally, Magellan went to the King Charles V of Spain who agreed to fund the voyage. In September of 1519 Magellan set sail in his attempt to find another route to Eastern Asia. There were over 270 men and five ships under his command. The ships were named the Trinidad, the Santiago, the Victoria, the Concepcion, and the San Antonio. They first sailed across the Atlantic and to the Canary Islands. From there they sailed south to Brazil and the coast of South America. As Magellan's ships sailed south the weather turned bad and cold. On top of that, they had not brought enough food. Some of the sailors decided to mutiny and tried to steal three of the ships. Magellan fought back, however, and had the leaders executed.

Magellan continued to sail south. Soon he found the passage he was seeking. He called the passage the All Saints' Channel. Today it is called the Straights of Magellan. Finally he entered into a new ocean on the other side of the new world. He called the ocean the Pacifico, meaning peaceful. Now that they were on the other side of South America, the ships sailed for China. There were only three ships left at this point as the Santiago had sunk and the San Antonio had disappeared. Magellan thought it would only take a few days to cross the Pacific Ocean. He was wrong. It took nearly four months for the ships to make it to the Mariana Islands. They barely made it and nearly starved during the voyage.

After stocking up on supplies, the ships headed to the Philippines. Magellan became involved in an argument between local tribes. He and around 40 of his men were killed in a battle. Unfortunately, Magellan would not see the end of his historic journey.

Only one of the original five ships made it back to Spain. It was the Victoria captained by Juan Sebastian del Cano. It returned in September of 1822, three years after first leaving. There were only 18 surviving sailors, but they had made the first trip around the world.

The ship that Magellan commanded was the Trinidad. The total distance traveled by the Victoria was over 42,000 miles. Magellan's knee was wounded in battle, causing him to walk with a limp. Many of the sailors were Spanish and did not trust Magellan because he was Portuguese. The King of Portugal, King Manuel I, sent ships to try and stop Magellan, but was unsuccessful. On the long journey across the Pacific the sailors ate rats and sawdust to survive.

More Explorers:

Ferdinand Magellan was born in Sabrosa, Portugal in 1480 into a noble family. After serving as a court page for two years, his adventurous spirit led him to a career as an explorer. In 1506, Magellan went to the Spice Islands (Indonesia) to participate in several military and exploratory expeditions. In 1510, he was promoted to the rank of captain. In 1512, he was stationed in Morocco and made preliminary plans to find a western shortcut to the Spice Islands. Unfortunately, Portugals king, Emmanuel, refused to finance his journey, and in 1517, he renounced his Portuguese citizenship. He promptly offered his services to King Charles I of Spain. Charles I agreed to finance Magellans trip in the hopes of becoming the king of the richest nation in the world. On September 20, 1519 Magellan and 237 crew members set sail on five ships from Sanlucar de Barrameda in the hopes of finding a shortcut to the Spice Islands. After three long months of sailing the Atlantic, Magellan and his crew anchored near Rio de Janeiro in the present day South American nation of Brazil. After trading with local natives, Magellan and his men quickly set sail again, ever worried about the threat of Portuguese ships. As the expedition continued, the weather got worse and several crew members were executed for trying to take over the ship. Others were starving or suffering from frostbite. As the ships neared the southern tip of South America, one smashed into the beach and lost all supplies. Nevertheless, in October of 1520, Magellan and his crew crossed the treacherous straits at the tip of South America, which became known as the Straits of Magellan. As the expedition passed through the straits, they entered the vast Pacific Ocean. Things got worse before they got better. The crew suffered from extreme hunger and were forced to survive by eating rats, sawdust, leather and even maggots. At least 20 men died from disease, particularly Scurvy (caused by a lack of Vitamin C) and starvation. On March 6, the ships finally reached land the Pacific island of Guam. Nevertheless, the crew members were able to collect clean water and food, despite being on the alert for attacks by the natives. Soon, the crew sailed to the Philippine Islands, where they converted natives to Christianity. During an attempt to

convert the native chief, Mactan, to Christianity, Magellan was wounded by an arrow that was driven through his foot by a native warrior. Mactan, who had become upset with Magellans insistence that he convert, ordered his warriors to attack. They killed Magellan on April 27, 1521. Most of Magellans crew escaped and set sail. With the loss of their leader, Juan Sebastian Del Cano took control of the ship and sailed for Spain. Only two ships and 47 men remained. Portuguese forces captured one of the ships, leaving the Victoria as the only ship left. Severe storms and Portuguese attacks battered the Victoria. As Portuguese forces bore down on the expedition near the Cape Verde Islands, Del Cano was forced to continue toward Spain without supplies or rest. Finally, on September 8, 1522, The Victoria made it back to Spain with only 18 men surviving, hence completing the first circumnavigation of the world.

Ferdinand Magellan was born in Portugal, either in the city of Porto or in Sabrosa, circa 1480. His parents were members of the Portuguese nobility, so after their deaths, when he was just 10 years old, Magellan became a page for the queen. Magellan studied at Queen Leonora's School of Pages in Lisbon and spent his days poring over texts on cartography, astronomy, and celestial navigation subjects that would serve him well in his later pursuits. In his mid-20s, Magellan joined a Portuguese fleet that was sailing to East Africa. He soon found himself at the battle of Diu, in which the Portuguese destroyed Egyptian ships in the Arabian Sea. He also explored Malacca, located in present-day Malaysia, and participated in the conquest of Malacca's port. It is possible that he sailed as far as the Moluccas, islands in Indonesia, then called the Spice Islands. The Moluccas were the original source of some of the world's most valuable spices, including cloves and nutmeg. The conquest of spice-rich countries was, as a result, a source of much European competition. While serving in Morocco, Magellan became wounded and walked the remainder of his life with a limp. After his injury, he was falsely accused of trading illegally with the Moors, and despite all of his service to Portugal, and his many pleas to the king, any further offers of employment were withheld him. In 1517, Magellan moved to Seville, Spain, to offer his skills to the Spanish court. In the three years following his departure from Portugal, he had religiously studied all of the most recent navigation charts. He had also benefited from the mistakes and discoveries of several other explorersChristopher Columbus's "discovery" of North America and Balboa's march across the Panamanian isthmus to the Pacific Ocean were just two of the many events that inspired Magellan's bold quest for an all-water passage to further-flung, spice-rich lands. Magellan devised a plan for circumnavigating the globe, and on September 20, 1519, King Charles V of Spain gave Magellan his blessing. He set out with a fleet of five ships, beautifully named but hardly adequate to sail the distances he proposed. The fleet sailed first to Brazil and then down the coast of South America to Patagonia. There, an attempted mutiny took place, and one of the ships was wrecked. Despite the setback, the crew continued on with the four remaining vessels. By October of 1520, Magellan and his men entered what is now called the Strait of Magellan. It took them over a month to pass through the strait, during which time the master of one of the ships deserted and sailed back home. In March of 1521, the fleet anchored in Guam. It is a lesser known fact that Magellan became involved in a local war in the Philippines and was killed in battle there on April 27, 1521; and that it was the remaining members of his crew, namely Juan Sebastin del Cano, who actually completed the circumnavigation of the globe. The following year, on September 6, 1522, despite having almost lost their lives in their efforts, the remainder of Magellan's fleet returned to Spain, thus proving that the globe was in fact round.

In 1519, a Portuguese sailor set sail from Seville, Spain, in an effort to sail around the globe. This expedition was funded by Spain. After Magellan and his 260 men and five ships reached South America, they began looking for a way through the continent to the other side. After

several months, they finally discovered the southern tip of South America, which is now known as the Straight of Magellan.

As Magellan traveled through these rough waters, one of his ships became separated and was forced to return to Spain. Another ship crashed on a rocky island. The three remaining ships traveled for several more months and finally made it to the Philippines. Here, Magellan became involved in a local dispute with a tribal king and was killed. His remaining crew of 18 men sailed back to Spain, arriving home after being gone for three years. This expedition was costly in both cost of goods as well as cost of life. However, it was important because it was the first time anyone had managed to sail around the entire globe. They proved once and for all that what Columbus had discovered was indeed a new world. They also discovered just how large the Earth really was.
Ferdinand Magellan is famous for planning the voyage that first went around the world. He conquered many obstacles on his trip. What many people don't know is that he died before the voyage was done.