The most famous travelers and their discoveries

Travel has always attracted people, but before they were not only interesting, but also extremely difficult. Territories were not studied, and, when embarking on the road, one became an explorer. Which travelers are the most famous and what exactly has each of them discovered?

James Cook

The famous Englishman was one of the best cartographers of the eighteenth century. He was born in the north of England and already by thirteen years began to work with his father. But the boy was unable to trade, so I decided to go seafaring. In those days, all the famous travelers of the world went to distant lands on ships. James was carried away by the sea business and so quickly advanced on the career ladder that he was offered to become a captain. He refused and went to the Royal Navy. Already in 1757 the talented Cook began to manage the ship himself. His first achievement was the formation of the fairway of the St. Lawrence River. He discovered the talent of a navigator and a cartographer. In the 1760s he studied Newfoundland, which attracted the attention of the Royal Society and the Admiralty. He was entrusted with traveling across the Pacific Ocean, where he reached the shores of New Zealand. In 1770, he accomplished what other well-known travelers had not sought before-he opened a new continent. In England in 1771, Cook returned to the famous pioneer of Australia. His last journey was an expedition in search of a passage connecting the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Today even the schoolchildren know the sad fate of Cook, whom the natives-cannibals killed.

Christopher Columbus

Famous travelers and their discoveries have always had a considerable influence on the course of history, but very few people were so famous as this man. Columbus became the national hero of Spain, resolutely expanding the map of the country. Christopher was born in 1451. The boy quickly achieved success, because he was diligent and studied well. At the age of 14 he went to sea. In 1479, he met his love and began life in Portugal, but after the tragic death of his wife went with his son to Spain. Having received the support of the Spanish king, he went on an expedition, the purpose of which was to find a way to Asia. Three ships sailed from the coast of Spain to the west. In October 1492, they reached the Bahamas. So America was discovered. Local residents Christopher mistakenly decided to call the Indians, believing that he had reached India. His report changed the story: two new continents and many islands discovered by Columbus became the main destination for the colonialists' travels in the next few centuries.

Vasco da Gama

The most famous traveler of Portugal was born in Sines. The exact date of his birth is not known. From a young age he worked in the navy and became famous as a confident and fearless captain. In 1495, King Manuel came to power in Portugal, who dreamed of developing trade with India. For this, the sea route was necessary, in search of which Vasco da Gama was to go. There were more famous seafarers and travelers in the country, but the king somehow chose it. In 1497, four ships set off to the south, rounded the Cape of Good Hope and swam to Mozambique. There it was necessary to stop for a month - half of the team had a scurvy up to that moment. After the break, Vasco da Gama reached Calcutta. In India, he established trade contacts for three months, and a year later he returned to Portugal, where he became a national hero. The discovery of the sea route, which made it possible to get to Calcutta, past the eastern coast of Africa, was its main achievement.

Nikolay Miklukho-Maclay

Famous Russian travelers also made many important discoveries. For example, the same Nikolai Michlukho-Maclay, born in 1864 in the Novgorod province. He could not graduate from St. Petersburg University, because he was expelled for participating in student demonstrations. For the continuation of education, Nicholas went to Germany, where he met Haeckel - a naturalist who invited Miklouho-Maclay to his scientific expedition. So for him the world of wanderings was opened. His whole life was devoted to travel and scientific work. Nikolai lived in Sicily, in Australia, studied New Guinea, embodying the project of the Russian Geographical Society, visited Indonesia, the Philippines, the peninsula of Malacca and in Oceania. In 1886, the naturalist returned to Russia and invited the emperor to establish a Russian colony overseas. But the project with New Guinea did not receive the tsar's support, and Miklouho-Maclay became seriously ill and soon died, without completing his work on the book on travel.

Fernand Magellan

Many famous seafarers and travelers lived in the era of the Great Geographical Discoveries. Magellan is no exception. In 1480 he was born in Portugal, in the city of Sabrosa. Going to serve at the court (at that time he was only 12 years old), he learned about the confrontation between his native country and Spain, travel to the East Indies and trade routes. So he first became interested in the sea. In 1505, Fernand got on the ship. Seven years later, he plowed the sea, participated in expeditions to India and Africa. In 1513, Magellan went to Morocco, where he was wounded in battle. But this did not temper the craving for travel - he planned an expedition for spices. The king rejected his request, and Magellan went to Spain, where he received all the necessary support. So began his round-the-world trip. Fernand thought that from the west the way to India could be shorter. He crossed the Atlantic Ocean, reached South America and opened the strait, which later would be called his name. Fernand Magellan became the first European to see the Pacific. On it, he reached the Philippines and almost reached the goal - the Moluccas, but died in a battle with local tribes, wounded with a poisonous arrow. Nevertheless, his journey opened Europe a new ocean and an understanding that the planet is much more than scientists had thought before.

Roald Amundsen

The Norwegian was born at the very end of an era in which many famous travelers became famous. Amundsen became the last of the seafarers to try to find undiscovered lands. From childhood, he was distinguished by perseverance and faith in his strength, which enabled him to conquer the South Geographic Pole. The beginning of the path is connected with 1893, when the boy threw the university and got a job as a sailor. In 1896, he became a navigator, and the following year he went on his first expedition to the Antarctic. The ship was lost in the ice, the team suffered from scurvy, but Amundsen did not give up. He took command of himself, cured people, remembering his medical education, and brought the ship back to Europe. Becoming a captain, in 1903 he went in search of the Northwest Passage from Canada. Famous travelers before him never did anything like this - in two years the team has overcome the path from the east of the American mainland to its west. Amundsen became known to the whole world. The next expedition was a two-month trip to the South plus, and the last one was the search for Nobile, during which he disappeared without a trace.

David Livingston

Many famous travelers are associated with navigation. David Livingstone also became a researcher of land, namely, the African continent. The famous Scotsman was born in March 1813. At the age of 20, he decided to become a missionary, met Robert Moffet and wished to go to African villages. In 1841, he came to Kuruman, where he taught local people farming, served as a doctor and taught to read and write. In the same place, he learned the language of the Bechuan, which helped him on his travels to Africa. Livingston studied in detail the life and customs of local residents, wrote several books about them and went on an expedition to find the sources of the Nile, in which he fell ill and died of a fever.

Amerigo Vespucci

The most famous travelers of the world most often came from Spain or Portugal. Amerigo Vespucci was born in Italy and became one of the famous Florentines. He received a good education and learned to be a financier. From 1490 he worked in Seville, in the Medici trade office. His life was connected with sea voyages, for example, he sponsored Columbus's second expedition. Christopher inspired him with the idea of trying himself as a traveler, and already in 1499 Vespucci went to Suriname. The purpose of the voyage was to study the shoreline. There he opened a settlement, called Venezuela - a small Venice. In 1500, he returned home, bringing 200 slaves. In the years 1501 and 1503, Amerigo repeated his travels, speaking not only as a navigator, but also as a cartographer. He discovered the bay of Rio de Janeiro, whose name he gave himself. Since 1505, he served the king of Castile and did not participate in campaigns, only equip foreign expeditions.

Francis Drake

Many famous travelers and their discoveries benefited humanity. But there are some among them who have left an evil memory on their own, because their names were associated with rather brutal events. Not without exception was Francis Drake, an English Protestant who had been floating on the ship since the age of twelve. He captured local residents in the Caribbean, selling them to slavery to the Spaniards, attacked the ships and fought with the Catholics. Perhaps no one could compare with Drake by the number of captured foreign ships. His campaigns were sponsored by the Queen of England. In 1577 he went to South America to defeat the settlements of the Spaniards. During the journey, he found Tierra del Fuego and the strait, which was later named in his honor. Having rounded Argentina, Drake plundered the port of Valparaiso and two Spanish ships. Arriving in California, he met Aboriginal people who presented gifts to the British from tobacco and bird feathers. Drake crossed the Indian Ocean and returned to Plymouth, becoming the first Briton to travel around the world. He was received into the House of Commons and awarded the title of Sir. In 1595 he died in the last campaign against the Caribbean.

Afanasy Nikitin

Few famous travelers of Russia have reached the same heights as this native of Tver lands. Afanasy Nikitin became the first European to visit India. He traveled to the Portuguese colonialists and wrote "The Journey of the Three Seas" - a valuable literary and historical monument. The success of the expedition was ensured by the career of the merchant: Athanasius knew several languages and was able to negotiate with people. On his journey, he traveled to Baku, lived in Persia for about two years and reached India on a ship. Visiting several cities in an exotic country, he went to Parvat, where he stayed for a year and a half. After the Raichur province, he traveled to Russia, laying a route through the Arabian and Somali peninsulas. However, Afanasy Nikitin never got home, because he fell ill and died near Smolensk, but his notes were preserved and provided the merchant world fame.