Spain
Ferdinand Magellan
1480-1521
Background Information:
Magellan was born in Portugal in 1480, but launched an expedition in 1519 in the service of the King of Spain, with five small ships and 237 men. Their mission was to find a passage to the profitable Spice Islands. They crossed the Atlantic Ocean to Brazil, sailed by South America past chilly Patagonia, where the stormy "Straits of Magellan" were later named in his honor. After suffering hunger and terrible hardships, Magellan and his crew crossed the vast Pacific. They made it to Guam, then to the Philippines, where Magellan was killed in battle in 1521. Almost three years after they began, 18 members of the original crew returned home to Spain.
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