They are courageous people who go to many distant lands, find new lands …
For thousands of years, people have explored to the ends of the Earth to discover new lands, satisfying their desire to see the magic of this world.
Let’s take a look at those who have the merit of discovering new lands – 5 former travelers who are passionate about exploring – or fun to call “phot thu” in modern parlance.
1. Leif Ericson (970 – 1020)
Leif Ericson was the first courageous European explorer to set foot in North America. Leif is believed to have been born around 970 in Iceland. He was the son of Erik Red, a Viking explorer banished from Iceland and traveled to Greenland.
According to Greenlanders’ records, in 1003 Leif set sail with a crew of 15 and headed north. The crew traveled through various terrains and decided to stop at a location that “seemed” favorable for settlement.
In studies of the 1950s and 1960s by Helge Ingstad (a Norwegian explorer), the stopover of Leif Ericson and his entourage was identified as Vinsland, located at the northern tip of Newfoundland (Canada). This site is named L’Anse aux Meadows, which was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1978.
2. Amerigo Vespucci (1454 – 1512)
Amerigo Vespucci was born in Florence (Italy), third child of a prestigious family. He was an Italian merchant, explorer and cartographer. Amerigo Vespucci played a major role in two expeditions to the east coast of South America from 1499 to 1502.
On his second expedition, he discovered that South America extended further south than Europeans knew. This led him to believe that this land was a new continent, contrary to the opinion of European explorers of the time (who believed that crossing the Atlantic Ocean would reach Asia).
In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller drew a map of the world, in which he named the new continent “America” after the name of Vespucci Amerigo. In 1512, Vespucci died of malaria in Seville, Spain.
3. Christopher Columbus (1451 – 1506)
Christopher Columbus was an Italian navigator and admiral of the Emperor of Castile. He is considered a Genoese because of his past as a Jewish emigrant like many others in the 15th and 16th centuries.
Christopher Columbus was an adept sailor, but with the concept of the Round Earth at the time, he believed that the easiest way to get to Japan was to sail west, around the Earth. However, instead of finding Japan, he found America today.
In 1492, he undertook his first trip. This trip has great historical significance, although it did not reach the mainland until its third expedition in 1498.
He was also not the first European explorer to reach the Americas, as there were records of “European transatlantic contact” before 1492.
Yet Christopher Columbus’ transatlantic voyages opened up the exploration of the Americas as well as the colonization of Europe.
4. Vasco Da Gama (1460 – 1524)
Vasco Da Gama was a Portuguese explorer, one of the most successful European navigators of the time of discovery (15th – 17th centuries). He was also the captain of the first fleet to sail directly from Europe to India.
He was born into a noble family in Sines, Portugal. His father was also an adventurer. Da Gama studied astronomy and navigation, becoming a naval officer in 1492.
He then made two more sea voyages to India in 1502 and 1524. During his voyages he brutally killed hundreds of Muslims to demonstrate his power.
However, he gave Europeans a new outlook on the world – a place more limited by four continents. In 1524 Da Gama died of a fever in India.
5. Ibn Battuta (1304 – 1368)
Ibn Battuta (full name: Abu Abdullah Muhammad Ibn Abdullah Al Lawati Al Tanji Ibn Battuta) is a Moroccan scholar and traveler. At 21, he left town to travel the world, becoming famous for his travels and explorations.
His travels lasted almost 30 years and lasted for more than 75,000 miles (approximately 120,000 km). During his lifetime he traveled most of the “Islamic world”, both to North Africa, West Africa, Southern Europe, Eastern Europe and as far as the is that the Middle East, the Indian subcontinent, Central Asia, Southeast Asia, China.
