Ferdinand Magellan (1480-1521) Portuguese Explorer and Circumnavigator (print)

Ferdinand Magellan c. 1480-April 27, 1521) was a Portuguese explorer. He was born at Sabrosa, in northern Portugal, but later obtained Spanish nationality in order to serve King Charles I of Spain in search of a westward route to the Spice Islands (modern Maluku Islands in Indonesia). Magellan's expedition of 1519-1522 became the first expedition to sail from the Atlantic Ocean into the Pacific Ocean and the first to cross the Pacific. It also completed the first circumnavigation of the Globe, although Magellan himself did not complete the entire voyage, being killed during the Battle of Mactan in the Philippines.