9. Magellan’s voyage
Ferdinand Magellan, the famous 16th-century Portuguese explorer, and the man after whom the Strait of Magellan is named for (and a penguin and couple of galaxies and a crater on Mars), is hailed as the first man to circumnavigate the globe. Except that he didn’t. First off, he didn’t set out to circle the globe, but rather to find a safer way for Spanish merchants to fabled Spice Islands. Magellan’s expedition is the first one to accomplish circumnavigation, but poor Ferdinand didn’t make it home, since he was killed by natives in the Philippines in 1521, about half way home. By modern standards, the expedition would be considered a disaster. It started with 5 ships and about 270 men. Only 18 of them aboard one ship, Victoria, made it home in 1522. Still, as an organizer of the expedition, Magellan received plenty of praises and is generally considered one of the greatest sailors and explorers in history.
