Ferdinand
Magellan
Ferdinand Magellan was born in Portugal around
1480. He
was related to King John II of Portugal, and for this reason
he went to the royal courts to work and study astronomy (the
study
of the stars in relation to the earth), mapmaking and navigation.
Magellan
became an explorer because he could see new places and make money
by bringing spices and gold from Asia and India. Europeans
who wanted spices and gold had to pay a lot of money for them.
In 1505, Magellan made his first sea journey. He joined
some traders who were sailing east from Portugal. They
sailed east, along the east coast of Africa and reached India
two years later in 1507.
Magellan
thought it would be faster to travel west to reach Asia.
He thought there was a passageway in South America that would
take him from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean.
In 1517 Magellan received money from King Charles of Spain for
his journey. He bought five ships: San Antonio,
Trinidad, Victoria , Concepción
and Santiago. He took a crew
of about 241 men, food, weapons and gunpowder. He also
took copper bracelets, colored bells, and knives to trade for
spices.
In
1519 Magellan and his crew sailed from Spain across the Atlantic
Ocean for three months. They landed on the coast of South
America, in the country now called Brazil. He decided to
continue his journey down the coast of South America. The
weather was freezing cold and the sea was rough. The crew
was tired and wanted to go home.
After
four months, in October 1520, Magellan finally found the way to
the Pacific Ocean through a narrow passageway at the southern
end of South America. It took one month to get through the passageway.
By this time one ship had sunk and another ship had headed back
to Spain. This passageway was later named the Straits of Magellan.
In
November 1520, Magellan and his crew reached the Pacific Ocean. The Pacific Ocean was much bigger than Magellan had thought.
It took another four months for the ships to cross the
Pacific Ocean, but they had no food and the crew became sick.
In
March, 1521, Magellan docked near a group of islands called the
Philippines. Magellan got along with most of the people
who lived on the islands, but the leader of the Mactan Island
did not like Magellan because he was friendly with Mactan's enemies.
There was a fierce battle, and Magellan was hit by a poisoned
arrow and stabbed. He died on April 27, 1521. A
year later Magellan's crew returned to Spain. Only 18
men returned.
Magellan
is known as the first man to sail all the way around the world.
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