<Tr> <Th> Known for </Th> <Td> The first circumnavigation of the Earth, from Europe to East, and to West; for the first expedition from Europe to Asia by the West; and for captaining the first expedition across the Atlantic Ocean to the Strait of Magellan and across the Pacific Ocean </Td> </Tr> <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>

Who led the first voyage to circumnavigate the globe