Explorers

Marco Polo (September 15, 1254 – January 8, 1324)

Venetian trader and explorer who gained fame for his worldwide travels, recorded in the book Il Milione ("The Million" or The Travels of Marco Polo).
Polo, together with his father Niccolò and his uncle Maffeo, was one of the first Westerners to travel the Silk Road to China (which was then called Cathay) and visit the Great Khan of the Mongol Empire, Kublai Khan (grandson of Genghis Khan).The Polo name originally did not belong to a family of explorers, but to a family of traders. Marco Polo's father, Niccolò (also Nicolò in Venetian) and his uncle, Maffeo (also Maffio), were prosperous merchants who traded with the East. They were partners with a third brother, named Marco il vecchio.

Christopher Columbus

Christopher Columbus (1451 – May 20, 1506) was a navigator and maritime explorer credited as the discoverer of the Americas. Born in Genoa (which is now in Italy), his birth name was Cristoforo Colombo, though he is commonly more associated with Spain because he was sponsored by the Catholic Monarchs. He eventually became an admiral for the Crown of Castillo. The name Christopher Columbus is the anglicization of the Latin Christophorus Columbus. Also well known are his name's rendering in modern Italian as Cristoforo Colombo and in Castillian Spanish as Cristóbal Colón, although his native language was Genoese.
Columbus' voyages across the Atlantic Ocean began a European effort at exploration and colonization of the Western Hemisphere. While history places great significance on his first voyage of 1492, he did not actually reach the mainland until his third voyage in 1498. Likewise, he was not the earliest European explorer to reach the Americas, as there are accounts of European transatlantic contact prior to 1492. Nevertheless, Columbus's voyage came at a critical time of growing national imperialism and economic competition between developing nation states seeking wealth from the establishment of trade routes and colonies. Therefore, the period before 1492 is known as Pre-Columbian.
The anniversary of the 1492 voyage (vd. Columbus Day) is observed throughout the Americas and in Spain and Italy. Columbus has always been a divisive figure - contemporary perceptions of him at various royal courts, among the people living in the lands that he claimed for Spain, and even among his own followers and colleagues evidenced extreme disagreements about his actions and intentions. Competing historical interpretations of his life and legacy continue this tradition of discord.


Alexis de Tocqueville

An aristocratic Frenchman who came to the U.S. in 1831, when he was only 25 years old and later wrote Democracy in America, a two-volume study of the American people and their political institutions. The book is frequently quoted by journalists and politicans.
In 1831, two young Frenchmen -- Alexis de Tocqueville and Gustave de Beaumont -- received permission to travel to the U.S. for the purpose of studying the U.S. prison system. Both were at odds with the new government of Louis Philippe, and they were looking for an excuse to leave France. They were also intrigued with the notion of American democracy and eager to see the country.

TOCQUEVILLE’S SOCIAL THEORY OF DEMOCRACY

Alexis de Tocqueville’s theory of Democracy is based on three “generative principles.” The first of these “generative principles” is equality of conditions. For Democracy to exist there must be equality. In his famous work Democracy in America, Tocqueville states “rights must be given to each citizen or to no one.” It is this equality of conditions that serve as the seeds of Democracy. According to Tocqueville, this equality of conditions served as a “generative principle” for Democracy
Another “generative principle” for democracy was sovereignty of the people.
Just as sovereignty of the people is a “generative principle,” so is public opinion. Public opinion is what drives democracy.
Despite the prospects of the tyranny of the majority, Tocqueville felt democracy was the way of the future. He believed that democracy was the destiny for modern nation states and that monarchies and aristocracies would soon disappear. Democracy represented the negation of the aristocracy. Tocqueville used the term “providential” when describing the spread of democracy. Tocqueville wanted to convey a sense of predetermined historical and divine triumph. In order for democracy to triumph the “generative principles” of equality of conditions, sovereignty of the people, and public opinion needed to exist.



Ferdinand Magellan

Ferdinand Magellan (Spanish: Fernando or Hernando de Magallanes; Spring 1480–April 27, 1521) was a Portuguese born maritime explorer who, at the service of Spain, attempted to find a route to the Spice Islands of Indonesia,. Popularly, this voyage became known as the first successful attempt at world circumnavigation. He did not complete his final, westward voyage; he was killed during the Battle of Mactan in the Philippines. He did, however, die farther west than the Spice Islands, which he had visited from the west on earlier voyages, making him become one of the first individuals to cross all the meridians of the globe. He became the first person to lead an expedition sailing westward from Europe to Asia and to cross the Pacific Ocean. Magellan should also be recognized as the first European explorer to enter the Pacific from the Straits of Magellan, which he discovered.
Memorial to Hernando de Magallanes in Punta Arenas (Chile)
Of the 237[1] or 270[2] crew members who set out with Magellan to circumnavigate the globe, only 18[1][2] managed to return to Spain and thereby complete the circumnavigation. They were led by Spaniard Juan Sebastián Elcano, who took over command of the expedition after Magellan's death.


Henry Hudson

Henry Hudson was an Englishman and accomplished navigator and sailor. It is unknown where and when he was born, but his four ocean voyages put his name on several places on the global map. On May 1, [1607], Hudson set sail from England aboard the Hopewell with his son and 11 crewmembers. He and his crew sailed closer to the North Pole than any other explorers. He was looking for a Northwest Passage to the Orient and found there was no way through the North Pole. He eventually returned to England. On April 22, 1608, he set sail once again aboard the Hopewell and discovered that as he rounded the northern tip of Norway, the sun shone 24 hours a day during the Arctic summer. He still failed to find a Northwest Passage. In 1609, he moved to Holland and sailed for the Dutch East India Company. The Dutch provided him with a ship called the Half Moon and a crew. Hudson chose some Englishmen to join the Dutch for a total of 18 crewmembers. The Half Moon was a flat-bottomed ship only 60 feet long. In April, [1609], the Half Moon set sail from Amsterdam and headed north. As the weather worsened and grew colder, the crew started to grumble and talk of mutiny. Hudson turned the ship around and headed south. He ended up off the coast of present-day Maine and sighted the area today known as Cape Cod. The Half Moon headed further south and sailed to the Chesapeake Bay. Hudson then turned north off the coast of present-day New Jersey. In September, 1609, the ship dropped anchor in the harbor of a great river known today as the Hudson. The crew traded with the Indians and explored the length of the river. The new lands in the Hudson River Valley were claimed for Holland. Eventually the Dutch settled in this area and founded New Amsterdam or present-day New York. In November, Hudson returned to England instead of Holland. He set sail on his fourth journey from England on April 17, 1610, and headed northwest. The journey was fraught with hardships and threats of mutiny. The weather was foul and the seas icy. The ship, the Discovery, made its way through an icy passage known today as the Hudson Strait. (The strait is 450 miles of water separating northern Labrador from Baffin Island.) In August, he sighted a huge body of water that he mistakenly assumed was the Pacific Ocean. This body of water was in fact a large bay later named the Hudson Bay. While exploring, the bay became very icy (in fact it is ice nine months of the year). By November, the ship was frozen in. With dwindling food supplies, Hudson's crew grew increasingly angry, ill, and frozen. Mutiny was on every crewmember's mind. When the ship was freed by melting ice, Hudson opted to continue sailing westward. By June 1611, the crew did indeed mutiny. They forced Hudson, his son, and sick and loyal sailors in a small boat. They were never heard from again. Only a handful of sailors made it back to England aboard the Discovery. They were not punished for the mutiny.


Arrival at the South Pole

On 14 December 1911, the team of five, with 16 dogs, arrived at the Pole (90°00'S). They arrived 35 days before Scott's group. Amundsen named their South Pole camp Polheim, "Home of the Pole". Amundsen renamed the Antarctic Plateau as King Haakon VII's Plateau. They left a small tent and letter stating their accomplishment, in case they did not return safely to Framheim.Amundsen's extensive experience, careful preparation and use of high-quality sled dogs (Greenland huskies) paid off in the end. In contrast to the misfortunes of Scott's team, the Amundsen's trek proved rather smooth and uneventful, although Amundsen tended to make light of difficulties. They returned to Framheim on January 25, 1912 with eleven dogs. Henrik Lindstrom, the cook, said to Amundsen: "And what about the Pole? Have you been there?" The trip had taken 99 days (originally planned to have taken 100 days), the distance about 3,000 km (1,860 miles).


The North Pole

Robert Peary and sledge party with flags at North Pole. Peary has been claimed to be the first person to reach the north pole.
On April 6th, 1909, Robert Peary claimed to be the first person in recorded history to reach the North Pole[5] (although whether he actually reached the Pole is disputed).[1][9] He traveled with the aid dogsleds and three separate support crews who turned back at successive intervals before reaching the Pole. Modern explorers, including Olympic Skiers on modern equipment have essentially disproven that Peary could have reached the pole on foot in the time he claimed. A number of previous expeditions set out with the intention of reaching the North Pole but did not succeed; that of British naval officer William Edward Parry, in 1827, the American Polaris expedition in 1871, and Norwegian Fridtjof Nansen in 1895. American Frederick Albert Cook claimed to have reached the North Pole in 1909, but this has not been widely accepted