First Circumnavigation




Did Magellan really circumnavigate the globe?

The Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan is often credited as being the first person to have circumnavigated the globe, but the reality of his journey is a bit more complicated.

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 halfway home. But since Ferdinand was the captain and leader of the expedition, he gets the credit.

So if Magellan wasn’t the first human to circumnavigate the globe, who was? This is slightly up for debate. The honor may go to Magellan’s personal slave, Enrique of Malacca, though it isn’t quite clear whether he made the last 1000 or so miles necessary to actually officially complete the trip, or if he did, when he did it.

Though Magellan didn’t complete the journey and isn’t rightfully called “the first person to circumnavigate the globe,” he was the first person to plan a successful expedition. Before his death, he also contributed to the “Age of Discovery” by finding a way to the Pacific Ocean from the west.

Debunked!

Sources:
http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2013/09/the-first-person-to-circumnavigate-the-world/
http://abraham.boards.net/thread/316/historical-myth-magellans-circumnavigation-true
http://www.history.com/news/ask-history/was-magellan-the-first-person-to-circumnavigate-the-globe
http://professorbuzzkill.com/magellan-the-not-so-fateful-voyage/


P.S. - If you have any urban legend or superstition that you are doubtful of, just comment it and I will try to debunk that.

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