4 – Ferdinand Magellan Circumnavigated the World
Magellan is often regarded as one of the greatest sailors and explorers in history and is said to have been the first man to have circumnavigated the world. Unfortunately for him, this isn’t true because he died about halfway through the expedition! Magellan originally intended to find a safe way for merchants to make the Spice Islands but his expedition ended up doing something remarkable. Despite the achievement, the expedition was a disaster as not only was the leader killed, only one ship and 18 men made it home from the original fleet of five ships and 270 men.
The expedition began on 20 September 1519 and the five ships sailed out of Spain. In a sign of things to come, the mission started disastrously as only three ships made it as far as the Pacific Ocean. An attempted mutiny resulted in the loss of one ship as the expedition sailed along South America while another deserted while sailing through what is now known as the Straits of Magellan because the crew had lost hope of succeeding on their journey.
After three months of floating along the Pacific Ocean with no possibility of resupplying, the remaining ships managed to make it to Guam. The expedition made it as far as the Philippines where Magellan was killed on 27 April 1521. Apparently, the explorers got involved in a local war and Magellan received a bamboo spear in the face for his troubles. He survived the initial blow but was surrounded and slashed to death with weapons such as cutlasses.
After he died, a vote amongst the crew led to two men sharing the leadership of the expedition. Both died within a few days and their successor made the mistake of remaining behind with one of the ships as the expedition continued. He didn’t make it home and the new leader was said to have been Jean Sebastian Elcano who led the final ship, the Victoria, home on 6 September 1522 almost three years after departing.