Ferdinand Magellan was a Portuguese explorer. He was given a task directly from Charles I Spain, whom Magellan served, to find a westward route to the Indonesian Spice Islands. His ship The Victoria was one of 5 ships that set sail under Magellan’s command. After running into a series of storms and complications on their journey tragedy struck and destroyed 4 of the 5 ships.
On this day September 6th, in 1522, Ferdinand’s Magellan’s expedition one surviving ship, The Victoria, became the first ship to circumnavigate the world. When The Victoria returned only 18 men out of the original 237 were on board.
Unfortunately for Magellan, he never knew his expedition led to the circumnavigation of the world. He was shot and killed with a bamboo spear while in the Philippines. There are however a number of things named after him such as the Magellanic Penguins, the Strais of Magellan, and Magellanic Clouds – all things he noted during his lifetime.