Wikipedia: List of explorers

List of explorers
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

See also explorations, sea explorers, astronaut, conquistador, the History of Science and Technology and Biography.

A

Charles Albanel (1616-1696), Canada
Diego de Almagro
Gonzalo de Alvarado
Roald Amundsen, (1872-1928), Norwegian, first at the South Pole, first to navigate the Northwest Passage in a single ship
Roy Chapman Andrews, (1884-1960), US explorer
Neil Armstrong

B

Vasco Nuñez de Balboa, (c. 1475-1519), Spanish, first to sight the Pacific Ocean, founded Darién, oldest surviving European settlement in the Western Hemisphere
William Baffin, (1584-1622)
Samuel Baker, Africa
Heinrich Barth (1821-1865), Northern and Central Africa
Willem Barents, (1550?-1597), Dutch, died on Novaya Zemlya seeking the Northeast Passage
Abu Abdullah Muhammad Ibn Battuta, (1304?-1377?), Moroccan Muslim, visited Mecca several times, travelled to Central Asia, East Africa, China, Tombouctou and other places
Nicolas Baudin - 18th century French explorer, mapped the West Australian coastline.
Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen, Russian explorer
Vitus Bering
Saint Brendan - Irish abbot who sailed the Atlantic Ocean
James Bruce
Richard Francis Burton, (1821-1890), looking for the source of the Nile, discovered Lake Tanganyika
Richard E. Byrd, (1888-1957), flew over South Pole

C

John Cabot (Giovanni Caboto) - Italian navigator in English service, crossed the Atlantic Ocean to North America
Pedro Alvares Cabral, (c. 1467-c. 1520), discovered Brazil and Madagascar
Juan Sebastian del Cano - completed the first circumnavigation, started by Magellan
Diego Cao, (died c. 1486), explored the African west coast
Jacques Cartier, (1491-1557), discovered the St. Lawrence River and sailed up it to Montreal; failed in an attempt to set up a colony
Thomas Cavendish, (died 1592), English sailor and explorer.
Samuel de Champlain, (c. 1567-1635), established the French colony in Canada; discovered the Great Lakes
William Clark, (1770-1838), with Meriwether Lewis led the first American expedition to reach the west coast.
Christopher Columbus, (1451-1506), reached America looking for a searoute to the Indies; discovered various lands and islands and established a colony on Hispaniola
James Cook, (1728-1779), explored the Pacific, discovering or mapping many lands and islands
Francisco Vasquez de Coronado, (c. 1510-1554), explored New Mexico and American southwest
Hernán Cortés, (1485-1547), conquered the Aztec empire in Mexico; sent out expeditions to Baja California

D

Jacques-Yves Cousteau, (died 1997), French marine biologist and explorer
Alexandra David-Néel, (1868-1969), French explorer, visited Lhasa, Tibet in 1924
Semyon Dezhnev, Russian explorer, first European who sailed through Bering Strait
Bartolomeu Dias, (1450-1500), Portuguese explorer who first rounded the Cape of Good Hope.
Sir Francis Drake, (c. 1540-1596), pirate, leader of the second circumnavigation
Jules Dumont d'Urville, (1790-1842), explorer of the Pacific and Antarctica

E

Eric the Red, (c.950-1003), explored and colonized Greenland
Leif Ericsson, (born 970), attempted to colonize Vinland, discovered America
George Everest, (1790-1866)

F

Matthew Flinders, (1774-1814), first to circumnavigate Australia and Tasmania, extensively charted the coastline and named such features as the Great Barrier Reef and the Great Australian Bight.
John C. Fremont, (1813-1890), explored the Oregon Trail and the Sierra Nevada
Louis de Freycinet, (1779-1842), explored coastal regions of Western Australia

G

Juan Galindo (1802-1839) explorer of Central American ruins
Vasco da Gama, (1469?-1524), first to reach India from Europe by the sea route
Thomas Gann, explorer
Francis Garnier, (1839-1873), Mekong River
Pierre Gaultier de Varennes et de la Vérendrye, (1685-1749), explorer
James Augustus Grant, (1827-1892), Scottish officer and explorer, explored the eastern equatorial Africa

H

Hannu - ancient Egyptian who travelled along the Red Sea to a land called Punt
Sven Hedin, (1865-1952), explorer
Louis Hennepin - discoverer of Niagara Falls and the Falls of Saint Anthony (highest waterfall on the Mississippi)
Bjarni Herjulfsson - Viking, probable discoverer of North America
Thor Heyerdahl, (1914-2002), Norwegian explorer
Henry Hudson, (died 1570), discovered the Hudson River and sailed up it to Albany, discovered Hudson Bay
Alexander von Humboldt, (1769-1859), explored Central and South America, visited Siberia

I

Helge Ingstad, (1899-2001), Norwegian, Danish explorer, Governor of Greenland

J

Louis Joliet, (1645-1700)
Richard Jobson
Harry Johnston, (1858-1927), Africa, reported the okapi

K

George Kennan, (1845-1924), Siberia

L

Jean François La Pérouse, (1741-1788), French explorer of the Pacific
Miguel López de Legaspi, Spanish explorer of the Philippines and Mexico
Meriwether Lewis, (1774-1809), leader of the first American expedition to cross the continent
David Livingstone, (1813-1873), explored south and east Africa, determined the course of the Zambesi, discovered Lake Nyasa

M

Ferdinand Magellan, (c. 1470-1521), leader of first expedition around the world
Teoberto Maler (1840-1917) Maya ruins
Douglas Mawson - Australian explorer of Antarctica

N

Fridtjof Nansen, (1861-1930), arctic explorer, scientist and international statesman
Joseph Nicollet, (1786-1843), explorer of the Upper Mississippi River and Missouri River
Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld, (1832-1901), arctic explorer

O

Francisco de Orellana - first to navigate down the Amazon River

P

William Parry, (1790-1855), Arctic explorer
Robert Edwin Peary, (1856-1920), first man to reach the North Pole
Auguste Piccard, (1884-1962), physicist and explorer
Jacques Piccard, (born 1922), undersea explorer
Zebulon Pike, (1779-1813), explored Louisiana Purchase, Pikes Peak
Francisco Pizarro, (1471-1541), conqueror of the Inca Empire
Marco Polo, (1254-1323), travelled to China in the 13th century
Gaspar de Portolá (fl. 1734-1784), explored California
John Wesley Powell, (1834-1902), explorer, environmentalist
Nathaniel Pryor, (c. 1785-1850), US explorer
Pytheas, Greek explorer who visited Britain and other north and northwest European countries

Q

Pedro Fernandez de Quirós, (1565-1614), Portuguese seaman and explorer, explored the Pacific

R

John Rae, (1813-1893), travelled widely through the Canadian Arctic
Walter Raleigh, (1554?-1618), English explorer
James Clark Ross, (1800-1862), Explorer

S

René Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, (1643-1687) French merchant and explorer, explored Great Lakes, navigated Mississippi and looked for its delta
Robert Falcon Scott, (1868-1912), reached the South Pole less than one month after Amundsen, but died on the return voyage
Scylax of Caryanda - a Greek explorer sent by the king of Persia to sail down the Indus River and around Arabia to Egypt
Ernest Shackleton, (1874-1922), attempted to reach the South Pole and went further south than anyone before him
Hernando de Soto, (died 1542), explorer
John Hanning Speke, (1827-1864), discovered Lake Victoria
Henry Morton Stanley, (1841-1904), successfully searched for Livingstone in Africa; later explored Lake Victoria, Lake Tanganyika and the Congo River
William Stairs, (1863-1892), Victorian explorer, discovered one source of the Nile River, first non-African to ever climb
John Lloyd Stephens (1805-1852) explored Middle East, Central America
Sir Paul Edmund Strzelecki, (1793-1873), Polish explorer and geologist

T

Abel Tasman, (1603-1659), discovered Tasmania and New Zealand
Yermak Timofeyevich, Russian cossack, explored West Siberia and claimed it for Russia
Luis Vaez de Torres, sea explorer
Gudridur Thorbjarnardottir, female explorer of the Middle Ages

V

Pierre Gaultier de Varennes, sieur de La Vérendrye (1685-1749), French Canadian military officer, fur trader and explorer, explored Western Canada
Giovanni da Verrazano, (died 1528), sea explorer
Amerigo Vespucci, (1454-1512), discovered other parts of America and gave his name to the new continent
Ruy Lopez de Villalobos. Spanish; explored the Pacific and the Philippines, which he named after Philip II of Spain

W

Jean-Frédéric Waldeck, (1766-1875), French antiquarian, artist, explorer

Y

Sir Francis Younghusband, (1863-1942), India and Tibet

Z

Zhang Qian - spent 12 years starting in 138 BC exploring much of Central Asia for Emperor Han Wu Di
Zheng He, (1371-1435), Chinese admiral who travelled widely over the Indian Ocean and other seas, reaching Africa and Arabia and many other countries