Magellan's Circumnavigation

The first circumnavigation of the globe began in 1519 when Ferdinand Magellan sailed from Seville with five ships seeking a western route to the Spice Islands. He found the strait at the tip of South America that bears his name, crossed the Pacific, and was killed in the Philippines in 1521. Juan Sebastian Elcano brought the sole surviving ship, Victoria, home to Spain in September 1522 with eighteen of the original crew. The voyage proved the earth could be sailed around and revealed the true scale of the Pacific.