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Robert Coleman Atkins
Robert Coleman Atkins was an American physician and cardiologist.
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Ferdinand Magellan17.10.1480

Wikipedia (10 Oct 2013, 12:22)

Ferdinand Magellan (Portuguese: Fernão de Magalhães, IPA: [fɨɾˈnɐ̃w ðɨ mɐɣɐˈʎɐ̃jʃ]; Spanish: Fernando de Magallanes, IPA: [ferˈnando ðe maɣaˈʎanes]; c. 1480 – 27 April 1521) was a Portuguese explorer who became known for having organised the first circumnavigation of the Earth that was completed by his second in command Juan Sebastián Elcano. He was born in a still disputed location in northern Portugal, and served King Charles I of Spain in search of a westward route to the "Spice Islands" (modern Maluku Islands in Indonesia).

Magellan's expedition of 1519–1522 became the first expedition to sail from the Atlantic Ocean into the Pacific Ocean (then named "peaceful sea" by Magellan; the passage being made via the Strait of Magellan), and the first to cross the Pacific. His expedition completed the first circumnavigation of the Earth, although Magellan himself did not complete the entire voyage, being killed during the Battle of Mactan in the Philippines. (For background see Exploration of the Pacific.)

Magellan also gives his name to the Magellanic Penguin, which he was the first European to note; the Magellanic clouds, now known to be nearby dwarf galaxies; the twin lunar craters of Magelhaens and Magelhaens A; and the Martian crater of Magelhaens.


The Magellan-Elcano circumnavigation was the first voyage around the world in human history. It was a Spanish expedition that sailed from Seville in 1519 under the command of Ferdinand Magellan in search of a martime path from the Americas to the Far East across the Pacific Ocean. Following Magellan's death in Mactan (Philippines) in 1521, Juan Sebastián Elcano took command of the expedition, sailing to Borneo, the Spice Islands and back to Spain across the Indian Ocean, round the Cape of Good Hope and north along the coast of Africa. They arrived in Spain three years later, in 1522.

The Spanish Armada de Molucca consisted of five ships with 270 men: Trinidad under Ferdinand Magellan, Captain General; San Antonio under Juan de Cartageña; Concepcion under Gaspar de Quesada; Victoria under Louis de Mendoza; Santiago under Juan Rodriguez Serrano. The circumnavigation was completed by one ship, the Victoria, under the command of Juan Sebastián Elcano and a crew of 18 men.

   
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