Can you name the Portuguese navigator and explorer who led the first expedition to circumnavigate the earth, in 1519?

While Ferdinand (Review) Magellan was the Portuguese navigator who masterminded and led the Spanish expedition that set sail in 1519, he did not personally complete the entire voyage. His original goal was not to circle the globe, but to find a westward route to the valuable Spice Islands (modern-day Indonesia) for Spain. After his plans were rejected by the king of Portugal, Magellan offered his services to King Charles I of Spain, who funded the ambitious undertaking. The expedition, which began with five ships and about 270 men, was therefore a Spanish enterprise, despite its Portuguese leadership.

The journey was fraught with peril, including mutinies, starvation, scurvy, and violent storms. In 1520, the fleet navigated a treacherous passage at the southern tip of South America, which is now known as the Strait of Magellan. Afterward, they entered a vast, calm body of water that Magellan named the "Mar Pacifico," or Pacific Ocean. The crew endured an arduous crossing of this ocean before finally reaching the Philippines.

Tragically, Ferdinand Magellan was killed in the Battle of Mactan in the Philippines on April 27, 1521, long before the expedition returned to Spain. Following his death, the Basque navigator Juan Sebastián Elcano took command of the remaining crew. It was under Elcano's leadership that the last surviving ship, the *Victoria*, finally arrived back in Spain on September 8, 1522, with only 18 of the original crewmen. This remarkable feat marked the completion of the first-ever circumnavigation of the Earth.