<Tr> <Th_colspan="2"> Signature </Th> </Tr> <P> Ferdinand Magellan (/ məˈɡɛlən / or / məˈdʒɛlən /; Portuguese: Fernão de Magalhães, IPA: (fɨɾˈnɐ̃w dɨ mɐɣɐˈʎɐ̃jʃ); Spanish: Fernando de Magallanes, IPA: (ferˈnando ðe maɣaˈʎanes); c. 1480--27 April 1521) was a Portuguese explorer who organised the Spanish expedition to the East Indies from 1519 to 1522, resulting in the first circumnavigation of the Earth, completed by Juan Sebastián Elcano . </P> <P> Born into a Portuguese noble family in around 1480, Magellan became a skilled sailor and naval officer and was eventually selected by King Charles I of Spain to search for a westward route to the Maluku Islands (the "Spice Islands"). Commanding a fleet of five vessels, he headed south through the Atlantic Ocean to Patagonia, passing through the Strait of Magellan into a body of water he named the "peaceful sea" (the modern Pacific Ocean). Despite a series of storms and mutinies, the expedition reached the Spice Islands in 1521 and returned home via the Indian Ocean to complete the first circuit of the globe . Magellan did not complete the entire voyage, as he was killed during the Battle of Mactan in the Philippines in 1521 . </P> <P> Magellan had already reached the Malay Archipelago in Southeast Asia on previous voyages traveling east (from 1505 to 1511--1512). By visiting this area again but now travelling west, Magellan achieved a nearly complete personal circumnavigation of the globe for the first time in history . </P>

Which explore was the first to find a path around south america and circumnavigate the earth