Top 10 Greatest World Explorers

The bravest of the brave are the men who sailed the uncharted waters of the open seas in the hopes of furthering the interests of Kings and countries. The best of these were from Portugal and Italy. Spain and England had an incredible sea-faring presence as well. Here are the discoverers of new worlds and new peoples that explored the planet with the winds in their sails and fortune as their guides.

Cabral is one of the least celebrated Portugal explorers and yet his discovery of Brazil is an extremely important one. After this successful journey as captain of the Portugal Armada, one of the ships under his command also discovered Madagascar. He lost 11 of his fifteen ships, some of them to storms. He fell from grace over a dispute with Captain Vasco de Gama, who took over the lead of the Revenge Armada. (See number five on this list) Cabral died of Malaria some years later.

Portugal provided the world with some of the most daring and adventurous explorers in history. Magellan was no exception. This Sabrosa born adventurer later became a subject of Spain in order to explore and serve King Charles I who needed a trade route to advance his throne and country. Magellan led the first expedition to cross the Pacific Ocean after first crossing from the Atlantic. A feat that was considered impossible and it was a major testament to his strength of spirit and leadership.

The expedition was the first to circumnavigate the earth completely. Magellan was killed before the voyage was completed but his crew carried on in the purest form of his commitment and spirit.

Ferdinand Magellan Biographical Podcast

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One of the best-known British explorers, Captain James Cook was also an excellent navigator and cartographer. The first person to map part of the coast of Australia, he was part of three expeditions, including the Hawaiian Island expedition that cost him his life. He made several attempts to cross the barren straits and many of his maps were so accurate that they were used well into the 20th century. His campaigns were so successful because he carried with him scientists and recorded thousands of new plants and animals for the King. He also had artists aboard his ships that made numerous drawings of the exotic places he visited or discovered.

He was the first person to circumnavigate the Haitian Islands proving they were not part of a larger land mass and made several excursions into the Antarctic waters, something no one else had done before that time. He is known for saying and then actually carrying out this famous line.

I  intend to go farther than any man has before me but as far as I think it possible for a man to go.

John Cabot was an Italian explorer who worked for England, as many Italian explorers did. He actually took one small vessel (The Mathew) and crossed the ocean from Bristol to the new world by traveling first north, where the parallel lines would be shorter. (Smart) He then took five ships and headed out again and at first, it was thought they were lost at sea. However, new evidence has surfaced that indicates four of the ships actually made it and that they built the first Catholic Church ever built in the new world. Nothing has been published yet so it is still under investigation but the English University that is looking into it expects a breakthrough very soon. At least, so I am told.

An explorer that needs no introduction, even children, who have no idea who he is say his name while playing games. "Marco" This form of hide and seek game that people play with their eyes closed is usually played in a swimming pool. "Polo!" The explorer covered 15,000 miles in over 24 years of adventures, which he documented. Traveling mostly in Asia, he was the authoritative voice in all things concerning China for Europeans who, at that time, had no idea what the Asian culture was all about.

Marco Polo inspired Christopher Columbus to visit China for himself, a fact that many historians do not reveal when teaching about the discoverer of the New World.

Now here is a cat that got around. Ibn traveled over 75,000 miles in his lifetime. For a fellow that could not get or use frequent flyer miles, that is a lot of hoofing. With the help of a writer, he has five full manuscripts of descriptions of cities all over the Asian continent, including parts of China. He traversed deserts and lived in exotic cities where the women walked the streets buck-naked. He spent well over thirty years flat footing it across his part of the word and had more experiences than many of us would achieve in two lifetimes.

I wonder if they gave frequent camel miles back then. He traveled in the thirteenth century.

Journey of Ibn Battuta

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At one time or another, this famous Portuguese explorer was a Viceroy, a Knight, a Governor, and married into the King's family. Vasco, trusted by the King for his successful protection of distant Portuguese trading stations from the French, he successfully led an expedition around the coast of Africa and on to India, traveling over more open ocean (6000 miles of it) than anyone ever had. While he lost several ships and more than one hundred men, the expedition was still considered a success as it was deemed as impossible at the time. Vasco de Gama completed his mission by doing what he had to do, which sometimes meant fighting and firing his cannons into a city or acts of open sea piracy. He was most definitely a determined and kick-assed man who knew how to survive and get things done for the sake of his country.

His first voyage opened a direct sea trade route to India, something that had been 80 years in the trying before him. On his second voyage, he furthered the name of Portugal as a country that would not be bullied by defending her rights and her beliefs in a very brutal fashion, leaving no doubts to his convictions. In 1519, he became the first Count of Vidigueira on royal decree making him the first Count not born of royal blood. He died of malaria during his third expedition.

So famous was he for his acts of cruelty that produced results that he is either hailed as a hero or condemned as a cruel butcher around the world. Either way, Vasco did more to establish Portugal as a world leading country coming out of the dark ages than any other man. There is even a crater on the moon named after him.

Christopher Columbus might have been a great navigator and a wonderful sailor but he was a terrible calculator. He convinced the rulers of the time that he could quickly cross the Atlantic for the New World and return with treasures like spices that would give Italy a huge leg up as far as trade goes. He could not have been more wrong. He estimated the trip at 3,000 nautical miles when in fact, it was 12,000. The problem was twofold, he though the Earth was much smaller than it actually is and he though in Italian miles, which are much shorter than an actual mile. His one redeeming quality was that he was one hell of a sailor and figured out how to use the circular winds and currents of the Atlantic Ocean to make it home where not doing so would have killed another crew, the route would have caused their demise through starvation and thirst.

The popular belief that Christopher Columbus was one of the few visionaries that knew the earth was not flat is false. People knew that long before Columbus set sail on his famous journey and it never came into play in the form of opposition as the books and movies would lead you to believe. Christopher Columbus never had his portrait made while he was alive but one artist painted him from memory after his death. It is the only known portrait of him.

500 Nations, The Discovery and Arrival of Christopher Columbus

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Oh, no! Christopher Columbus just can't get a break. I guess that is what he gets for discovering The West Indies thinking he found the New World of North America, which was named after Amerigo Vespucci. Amerigo not only sailed up the coast of South America, he was the first to converse with the Native Americans and record it. (hmm, if the history books got so many other things wrong, why not this?) Amerigo was a great Italian explorer, navigator, and cartographer and paved the way for many trips to the new world by charting (mostly accurately) the way to get to South America and many other areas on that side of the world. He died of malaria in 1512 in Seville.

The history book might still read that Christopher Columbus found the New World but guess what, Chris. Leif Ericson, son of Eric the Red, was probably walking the beaches of Massachusetts, buck-assed naked and five hundred years before you. Eric, an outlaw just like his father before him, made landings from Greenland in Canada and the States as early as 1004 or 1005 AD.

Don't feel too badly though, Chris. Christopher Columbus Day (October 12) is much more popular than Leif Ericson Day is. (October 9) That's funny; the day we celebrate even comes first!