Who was Ferdinand Magellan?
Ferdinand Magellan was a Portuguese explorer who led the Spanish expedition of 1519 to 1522 that completed the first circumnavigation of the globe. He was killed in the Philippines in 1521.
Magellan was born around 1480 in Portugal. After the Portuguese king refused to support his plan, he persuaded King Charles I of Spain to fund a voyage to reach the Spice Islands, in present-day Indonesia, by sailing west. He left Spain in September 1519 with five ships and about 270 men.
In 1520, Magellan found a passage through the southern tip of South America, now called the Strait of Magellan. He then sailed into a calm ocean, which he named the Pacific, meaning peaceful. The crossing took more than three months, and many sailors died of starvation and scurvy.
His death
In the Philippines, Magellan became involved in local conflicts. He was killed on April 27, 1521, in the Battle of Mactan by warriors led by the chief Lapulapu, who is honored as a national hero in the Philippines. Magellan's crew continued the voyage without him.
Did You Know?
Two dwarf galaxies visible from the Southern Hemisphere, the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds, are named after Magellan.