Setting sail aboard his “treasure ships”, he would exchange valuable goods such as gold, porcelain and silk for ivory, myrrh and even China’s first giraffe.

Famous Explorers - The Greatest Explorers of All Time

North America, Hawaii, Japan, Korea, China, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, India, Persia, Kurdistan, Turkey, Morocco Sadly, by 1502, when he was ready to set sail for India once again, the Portuguese king had become intent on controlling the region and asked da Gama to do the dirty work. Having captured the capital and subdued neighbouring territories, Cortés became the absolute ruler of a territory extending from the Caribbean Sea to the Pacific Ocean. Despite the savage reputation he earned along the way, his exploits won him notoriety in England, where he became a national hero. He was knighted on his 100-ton flagship, the Golden Hind (originally the Pelican), by Elizabeth I for his endeavours.

15. Roald Amundsen (1872-1928)

This was in part because Portugal wanted to recognise a Portuguese explorer, and because of Spanish fears of Basque nationalism. 11. Hernán Cortés (1485-1547) On his final voyage, in 1776, Cook was selected to find a fabled northwest or northeast passage between the Pacific and Atlantic.

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He’s hailed as the discoverer of the New World, but this was done 500 years before him by the fiercest warrior-explorers of them all: the Vikings. By Aurélio de Figueiredo - Revista de História da Biblioteca Nacional (Issue 55), April 2010, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=11224829 This is great but could someone look at adding Tim Peake as a significant British individual?? We are focusing on him for our topic and would have found it useful when doing our space topic. Many thanks. You can’t put together a list of famous explorers without including this Venetian pioneer of adventure!

By Unknown master of the Portuguese School.. - Own work - Daniel Villafruela - 17 September 2014, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=38093477

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Allegory of the New World’ by Stradanus, depicting Vespucci that awakens the sleeping America (cropped)Francisco Pizarro helped Vasco Núñez de Balboa discover the Pacific Ocean and, after conquering Peru, founded its capital city, Lima. Getty Images Cook's first voyage (1768-71) was a collaborative venture under the auspices of the Admiralty and the Royal Society. The original intention was to organise a scientific voyage to observe the transit of the planet Venus from Tahiti, and this was supplemented by instructions to search for the great southern continent, Terra Australis Incognita, whose location had intrigued and baffled European navigators and projectors since the 16th century. A few of the names in this list of famous explorers weren’t necessarily great people (in the sense that they wreaked bloody chaos on the places they went).

Top 10 Famous Explorers - Biography Online Top 10 Famous Explorers - Biography Online

Spanish conquistador Hernan Cortes conquered and colonized parts of South America. Cortes was successful in reaching Mayan territory along the Yucatan Peninsula, leading to his conquest of Mexico. Most notably, he is known for his overthrow of the Aztec empire. It must be noted that Cortes used his own money for the expeditions he undertook, leaving him heavily in debt.Later, he was secretly commissioned by Elizabeth I to set off an expedition against the colonies of the Spanish empire – the most powerful in the world at the time. Though it might seem trivial, this topic is ideal for covering the 2014 National Curriculum aims and objectives for history, which state that children are to develop an awareness of the lives of significant individuals in the past, who have contributed to national and international achievements. The name “Brazil” originated from the brazilwood tree, which the settlers made great profit from. Today, with over 200 million people, Brazil is the world’s largest Portuguese-speaking nation. 8. Amerigo Vespucci (1454-1512) Beginning from the early 15th century until the middle of the 17th century, European explorers took to the seas in search of trade, knowledge, and power.