1. Amerigo Vespucci (1454)

Explorer

Legendary letter-writing Italian explorer who proved Brazil and the West Indies were not in eastern Asia. America is the feminine Latin form of his name.

2. Ferdinand Magellan (1480)

Explorer

Famous Portuguese explorer who sought a westerly route for spices. He planned the first successful expedition to circumnavigate the world.

3. Hernando Desoto (1496)

Explorer

16th-century Spanish conquistador who was the first documented person to cross the Mississippi River while searching for gold and silver.

4. Pedro Menendez de Aviles (1519)

Explorer

Spanish explorer and sea captain who founded St. Augustine, the first successful Spanish settlement in Florida, in 1565. When he set out he was under the reign of Phillip II...

5. Walter Raleigh (1552)

Explorer

English explorer, aristocrat, spy, poet, writer, and soldier who popularized tobacco in England.

6. George Percy (1580)

Explorer

Late sixteenth and early seventeenth-century English explorer. From 1611 to 1612, he served as the governor of the Virginia Colony.

7. Abel Tasman (1603)

Explorer

Well-known explorer known for embarking on numerous expeditions to the Greenland Sea, the Barents Sea, and a scientific and commercial journey to the Persian Gulf.

8. William Dampier (1651)

Explorer

English explorer who traveled to Australia and circumnavigated the globe three times. His book A New Voyage Round the World was a major hit at the time it was released...

9. Vitus Bering (1661)

Explorer

The explorer of the northernmost region between Russia and North America who named the strait the separates the two continents.

10. Joseph Banks (1743)

Explorer

Explorer and naturalist who accompanied James Cook on several round-the-world sea voyages. 

11. Alexander Mackenzie (1764)

Explorer

Explorer who became the first European explorer to cross North America from East to West above the Mexico border.

12. Archibald Menzies (1970)

Explorer

Scottish doctor and naturalist who sailed on several notable expeditions.

13. Hugh Clapperton (1970)

Explorer

African explorer who mapped out what became Northern Nigeria and the Niger River.

14. Hamilton Hume (1797)

Explorer

Australian explorer who took part in the land expedition from Sydney to modern-day Melbourne.

15. Pawel Strzelecki (1797)

Explorer

Geologist who explored the topography of Australia, venturing into the country's Snowy Mountains and Australian Alps. Numerous Australian peaks, desert formations, and bodies of water were named in his honor....

16. Alexander Gordon Laing (1793)

Explorer

The first European explorer to reach the fabled city of Timbuktu.

17. Thomas Mitchell (1792)

Explorer

Surveyor of Southeast Australia who mapped out a large portion of the continent despite the use of rudimentary equipment.

18. Russell Solomon (1793)

Explorer

Empresario who became known as the Father of Texas after leading the second colonization of Austin with 300 families from the United States.

19. Rene Caillie (1799)

Explorer

French explorer who visited the city of Timbuktu and returned to tell his fantastic tale.

20. Thomas Pegleg Smith (1801)

Explorer

Known as Thomas L. "Pegleg" Smith, he guided many expeditions into present-day New Mexico.

21. George Back (1796)

Explorer

He made four expeditions to North America's polar coast, exploring the region as part of John Franklin's expedition.

22. George Fletcher Moore (1798)

Explorer

Early settler of colonial Western Australia who recorded the culture of the natives along with the land.

23. James Clark Ross (1800)

Explorer

A British Navy officer who was commissioned to survey both the Arctic and Antarctic.

24. Stephen Meek (1807)

Explorer

Virginia native who famously served as the guide on the covered wagon road commonly referred to as the Meek Cutoff. He was also a fur trapper for companies like the...

25. Jim Bridger (1804)

Explorer

Frontier-era American explorer who traveled from the Rockies to Canada.

26. John Lloyd Stephens (1805)

Explorer

North American explorer who rediscovered the Mayan civilization.

27. John C Fremont (1813)

Explorer

Known as The Great Pathfinder, he mapped most of the Oregon Trail.

28. John Mcdouall Stuart (1815)

Explorer

Explorer who traversed the Australian mainland from south to north and then back again.

29. John Hanning Speke (1827)

Explorer

The first European to reach Lake Victoria in East Africa, discovering the source of the Nile river.

30. James Augustus Grant (1827)

Explorer

Scottish soldier who took part in an expedition to Africa to chart the Nile River.

31. Annie Edson Taylor (1838)

Explorer

She was the first person to survive going over Niagara Falls inside of a barrel.

32. Francis Garnier (1839)

Explorer

French naval officer who explored the Mekong river in what is now Vietnam.

33. Adolphus Greely (1844)

Explorer

Leader of the eponymous polar expedition that got trapped in the wilderness for over three years.

34. Alexandre de Serpa Pinto (1846)

Explorer

Explorer of Africa's rugged interior who traveled between Portuguese-controlled Angola in Africa's west coast

35. Arthur Henry Newman (1850)

Explorer

Travel writer, hunter and explorer known for expeditions through Equatorial East Africa and his book Elephant Hunting In East Equatorial Africa.

36. Harry Dewindt (1970)

Explorer

A Victorian-era explorer who published many books about his travels.

37. Henry Tureman Allen (1859)

Explorer

He crossed 1,500 miles of wilderness along the Alaskan Copper river in order to make charts of the land.

38. Albert Von Lecoq (1970)

Explorer

Explorer and archaeologist who embarked on expeditions to Asia from Germany, most notably Gaochang, in which he explored the Silk Road.

39. Pyotr Kozlov (1863)

Explorer

Russian explorer of Mongolia, Tibet, and the Gobi Desert. In the early 1900s, he uncovered the lost Tangut city of Khara-Khoto.

40. Aurel Stein (1970)

Explorer

Hungarian archaeologist who uncovered the Silk Road in three expeditions.

41. Robert Falcon Scott (1868)

Explorer

English explorer who led two expeditions to Antarctica. On his second trip, the Terra Nova Expedition, he and his fellow explorers perished soon after visiting the South Pole.

42. Joseph LeConte (1870)

Explorer

Naturalist and explorer who devoted himself to preserving the Sierra Nevada.

43. Thomas Crean (1877)

Explorer

A polar explorer who made four different trips to Antarctica.

44. John Henry Mears (1878)

Explorer

He set the record for the fastest sea voyage around the world, doing it in just 35 days in 1913. He held this traveling record for 13 years and then...

45. Richard E. Byrd (1888)

Explorer

Polar explorer who took part in six of America's twelve expeditions to the Antarctic.

46. John Smith (1580)

Explorer

English soldier, author, and explorer who was credited with the establishment of the first English settlement in North America.

47. Henry Hudson (1565)

Explorer

English navigator who conducted sea explorations in the early seventeenth century. He discovered a river in New York for the Dutch East India Company, who named it the Hudson River.

48. Andrew Croft (1906)

Explorer

World renowned explorer who entered the Guinness Book of World Records for the longest self-sustaining journey through Greenland.

49. Aleksandrs Laime (1970)

Explorer

Latvian-born explorer known for being the first human to reach Angel Falls, located in Venezuela.

50. Jarle Andhoy (1977)

Explorer

Famous for his dangerous and much-criticized expeditions to Arctic areas of Russia and Norway and to the South Pole, Andhoy was the subject of Norwegian television programs titled Berserk to...