Famous explorers facts for kids

Leif Erikson was a famous Norse explorer who is credited for being the first European to set foot on American soil (c. 1000).

Marco Polo was an Italian explorer who traveled to the far east and back to his hometown Venice in the matter of 24 years. He is noted for making detailed chronicles of his travels (1271–95).

Zheng He was a Chinese explorer who sailed along the Southeast Asian, South Asian, Western Asian, and East African coasts along with his fleet of incredibly large ships and several hundred men (1405–33).

Diogo Cão is the first European to explore the Congo River and the west coast of Africa, south of the equator (1482–86).

Bartolomeu Dias is known as the first European to sail around the southernmost tip of Africa, finding the eastern sea route to the Indian Ocean (1488).

Christopher Columbus. Famous Italian explorer and possibly the best-known explorer that ever lived. Known for "discovering" America (1492).

Alonso de Ojeda is noted as the discoverer of South America, as commander of the fleet with Juan de la Cosa and Amerigo Vespucci (1493–1510).

John Cabot was an Italian navigator who was the first European that sailed along to North American coast since the Norse 500 years prior (1497).

Vasco da Gama. Famous Portuguese explorer known for being the first European to sail to India (1497–98).

Italian navigator Amerigo Vespucci made several trips to the New World. He is known for convincing the Europeans that the New World is not Asia, but an entirely new unknown continent. This new continent was soon named after him, America (1497–1504).

Pedro Alvares Cabral discovered the land in what is now Brazil and claimed it for Portugal (1500).

The great conqueror Afonso de Albuquerque raided, captured, and conquered many coastal cities in Asia for the Portuguese Empire. He is also one of the first Europeans to sail to the East Indies and Spice Islands, along with Francisco Serrão and António de Abreu (1503–15).

Juan Ponce de León was the first Governor of Puerto Rico and discovered Florida in 1513. He is the first known European to set foot on today's continental United States (1508–13).

Vasco Núñez de Balboa is known for having crossed the Isthmus of Panama to the Pacific Ocean, becoming the first European to reach and see the Pacific from the America's (1513).

Hernán Cortés. Famous Conquistador who led the Spanish expedition to explore and conquer the Aztec Empire (1519–21).

Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan led the first circumnavigation of the globe (1519–21).

Juan Sebastián Elcano took command after Ferdinand's death and completed the voyage, becoming the first person to circumnavigate the earth (1521–22).

Jacques Cartier was the first European to travel inland in North America and claimed the lands he explored for France (1534).

English privateer Francis Drake plundered many Spanish towns and ships in the Caribbean and elsewhere. However, he is most notable for completing the second circumnavigation of the world (1577–80).

Samuel de Champlain is known as "The Father of New France". He founded the first permanent European settlements in Canada, and explored many lakes and rivers in the interior lands from early age to his death (1603–35).

English explorer Henry Hudson explored what is now New York and northeastern Canada. Today he has both a river and bay named after him (1609–11).

Abel Tasman is the first known European to sight the islands of Tasmania, New Zealand, and Fiji (1642–43).

James Cook. Famous British explorer who led three voyages to the Pacific. He is known for exploring and charting many islands in the ocean such as Polynesia, New Zealand, The Hawaiian Islands, and the eastern coast of Australia (1768–79).

Roald Amundsen was an explorer of the polar regions. He was the first person to reach the South Pole, and eventually also reached the North Pole by air (1910–26).