Ferdinand Magellan was born in 1480 in Ponte da Barca. A Portuguese navigator in the service of Spain, Magellan proposed to reach the Spice Islands by sailing west, and in 1519 he set out with five ships from Seville. He found the strait at the southern tip of South America that now bears his name and led the first crossing of the Pacific by Europeans. In April 1521, he was killed in a battle with the forces of the chieftain Lapulapu on the island of Mactan, in the Philippines. One ship of the expedition, commanded by Juan Sebastián Elcano, returned to Spain in 1522, completing the first circumnavigation of the Earth.
Before and after
- 1478Battle of Guinea
- 7 February 1478Birth of Thomas More
- from 1479 to 1700Hispanic Monarchy
- 1 June 1479Founding of University of Copenhagen
- 1480Birth of Ferdinand Magellan
- 1481Construction of Blue Mosque
- 3 May 1481Death of Mehmed II
- 14 February 1483Birth of Babur
- 6 April 1483Birth of Raphael
More in Exploration & discovery
- 1298The Travels of Marco Polo
- 24 February 1304Birth of Ibn Battuta
- 1371Birth of Zheng He
- c. 1469Birth of Vasco da Gama
- 1485Birth of Hernán Cortés
- 31 December 1491Birth of Jacques Cartier
The era
This moment belongs to the Medieval world (500 CE to 1500 CE), kingdoms, faiths and trade routes. You can also browse everything in the 15th century.