Interesting facts about Magellan Is a great opportunity to learn more about the great sailors. He was the leader of the first expedition in history to travel around the world. During his voyage, he managed to discover the strait, which today bears his name.
So, here are the most interesting facts about Fernand Magellan.
- Fernand Magellan (1480-1521) - Portuguese and Spanish navigator.
- Magellan was not only the first to sail around the world, but also became the first European to sail from the Atlantic to the Pacific.
- The name of Magellan is one of the craters on the Moon (see interesting facts about the Moon), a spacecraft (1990) and 2 galaxies - the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds.
- Magellan is the discoverer of the Philippine Islands.
- For a long time, Fernand Magellan remained the only captain who managed to lead the flotilla through the strait named after him, without losing a single ship.
- Did you know that Magellan did not really plan to travel around the world? He set out to pave the way to the Moluccas.
- An interesting fact is that the Pacific Ocean was so named thanks to Magellan. The name is explained by the fact that having traveled about 17,000 km, the navigator did not meet a single storm on the way.
- It is curious that Magellan made his famous trip around the Land under the flag of Spain, since the monarch of Portugal refused to finance the expedition. Later, the king will regret it greatly.
- Before becoming the leader of the expedition, Magellan has repeatedly participated in battles in India, Malaysia and some African countries.
- A squadron consisting of 5 ships set off on a famous journey. It is worth noting that Magellan did not tell his crew about the sailing route, which occasionally caused dissatisfaction among the sailors.
- The author of the name of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago was also Magellan, who mistook the fires of the local aborigines for volcanoes.
- Perhaps you did not know, but Magellan himself was unable to circumnavigate the Earth, since he was killed in the Philippines. During the trip, almost the entire crew was killed, where only 18 of the approximately 300 sailors survived. It was they who sailed to Spain, becoming the first people to sail around the world. By the way, out of 5 ships only one sailed to the Spanish coast.
- It is curious that one of the penguin species (see interesting facts about penguins) is named after Magellan, who discovered the habitats of these animals.
- On the Philippine island of Mactan there is a monument to Magellan, and not far from it there is a monument to the native leader who was guilty of the death of the navigator.
