Ferdinand Magellan - Biography.

Ferdinand Magellan - Biography. Portuguese-born Spanish explorer and navigator Birth 1480? Death April 27, 1521 Place of Sabrosa, Portugal Birth Known as Captain of the first expedition to circumnavigate the world Milestones 1505 Sailed with a Portuguese fleet to explore and conquer the southeast Asian islands then known as the East Indies 1517 Was denied Portuguese support for an expedition to reach the Spice Islands (Moluccas) by a westward route; gave up his Portuguese citizenship, went to Spain, received funding, and took Spanish citizenship September 20, 1519 Sailed west from Spain with five vessels in search of a waterway through South America October 21, 1520 Entered what was later named the Strait of Magellan, a channel between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans 1520 Named the archipelago at the southernmost tip of South America Tierra del Fuego (Spanish for 'Land of Fire') after the campfires that dotted the shore November 28, 1520 Emerged from the Strait of Magellan into the Pacific Ocean April 27, 1521 Was killed in battle on Mactan, Philippines September 6, 1522 Captain Juan Sebastián del Cano returned the remaining ship and crew to Spain, completing the voyage around the world. Did You Because Magellan had been further east on previous voyages, his 1521 arrival in the Philippines technically made him the first man to Know circumnavigate the earth. Magellan's expedition proved definitively that the earth is a sphere, and that all its oceans are connected. Patagonia derives its name from patagões (Portuguese for 'big feet'), the name Magellan gave the foot coverings worn by the local people. Magellan named the Pacific Ocean for its calm waters. During the voyage across the Pacific, food supplies ran so low that the men ate boiled leather, sawdust, and rats to survive. Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2009. © 1993-2008 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.