On 5 June 1799, the 29-year-old Prussian naturalist Alexander von Humboldt and the French botanist Aime Bonpland sailed from A Coruna in Spain for Spanish America, with a permit from King Charles IV. In five years they travelled through Venezuela, Cuba, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Mexico, mapping the Orinoco and climbing Chimborazo to 5,878 metres, a record at the time, collecting 60,000 plant specimens. Humboldt noted how altitude, climate and vegetation are linked, and described the Peru Current, now named after him. His works made him the most famous scientist of his time, and inspired Darwin.
Before and after
- from March 1799 to December 1799Italian and Swiss expedition
- from 15 April 1799 to 11 September 1799Suvorov's Italian campaign
- 20 May 1799Birth of Honoré de Balzac
- 26 May 1799Birth of Alexander Pushkin
- from 5 June 1799 to 1 January 1804Alexander von Humboldt begins his American expedition
- 15 July 1799The Rosetta Stone is found
- from 9 November 1799 to 10 November 1799Coup of 18 Brumaire
- 14 December 1799Death of George Washington
- from 1 January 1800 to 17 August 1945Dutch East Indies
More in Exploration & discovery
- 22 August 1812Burckhardt rediscovers Petra
- 16 November 1855Livingstone sees Victoria Falls
- 16 July 1872Birth of Roald Amundsen
- from 7 December 1872 to 26 May 1876Challenger Expedition
- from 16 August 1897 to 5 November 1899Belgian Antarctic Expedition
- from August 1907 to March 1909British Antarctic Expedition (1907–1909)
The era
This moment belongs to the Industrial era (1760 CE to 1914 CE), steam, factories and revolutions. You can also browse everything in the 18th century.