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Alexander von Humboldt - German Naturalist (1769-1859)
Formally trained in geology and engineering, but his life's work focused on scientific travel and exploration in pursuit of his passion for botany. He is regarded as among the greatest naturalists to have lived, his work as influential and groundbreaking as Darwin's. He explored South American rivers, climbed several peaks in the Andes, covering over 6,000 mile by foot, horseback and canoe. He studied Pacific Ocean currents, one of which is named after him. At age sixty he traveled across Russia and Siberia. His later years were primarily spent writing his major scientific work, Kosmos, an explanation of the universe as then known.
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Charles Darwin- English Naturalist (1809-1882)
He studied botany at Cambridge University. Served as ship's naturalist on scientific expedition aboard the H.M.S. Beagle between 1832 and 1836, surveying the geology, and plant and animal life of the coasts, islands, and interior of South America and Australia. He published numerous studies on geology and natural history. His study of the fossils and species of the Galapagos Islands laid the foundation for his later theories on natural selection and evolution, including his best known work, "On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection". Four of his sons also became prominent scientists
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Christopher Columbus - Italian Explorer (1451-1506)
He gained experience in his early years as a seaman. Lived in Portugal, trying to raise support for expeditions in search of a westward route to Asia. Succeeded in persuading the Spanish King Ferdinand to finance an expedition of three ships. His first landfall in October 1492 after two months at sea was a Caribbean island he named San Salvador. He then sailed to Cuba and Haiti. His three subsequent, larger expeditions led to the discovery of the islands of Dominica, Guadaloupe, Jamaica, Trinidad, Martinique, and Puerto Rico. He also explored Honduras and coastal Panama. He encountered political trouble in Spain and was arrested in 1500. He died in poverty despite the fact that his discoveries led to immense wealth for Spain.
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John Cabot - Italian Explorer (1450?-1499)
His Italian name was Giovanni Caboto. Early in his life he traveled throughout the Mediterranean and visited Mecca. In 1495 he moved to England and in 1496 was authorized by King Henry VII to sail in search of unknown lands. Exactly where is not known but he probably landed in what is now southern Labrador or Newfoundland in Canada. His voyages in 1497 and 1498 were the foundation for later British claims to Canada, though because they did not lead to rapid European colonial expansion to the extent that Columbus' discoveries did, Cabot is less well remembered today. Cabot never returned from his second voyage, his fate unknown.
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Vasco Nuñez de Balboa - Spanish Explorer (1475-1519)
In 1500 he led an exploration of the coast of Colombia, and in 1511 founded the first viable European settlement on the continent of South America, serving as its governor. He is credited as the first European to "discover" the Pacific Ocean, which he claimed for Spain. After other regional explorations he served for several years under the governor of Panama, with whom he eventually feuded, ultimately ending in a political trial in which Balboa was condemned, and then beheaded.
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Hernando de Soto - Spanish Explorer (1496?-1542)
Explored Central America between 1516-1520, and took part in the subjugation of Nicaragua in 1523 thereafter serving as its military commander. In 1531 he joined Pizarro's forces in Peru. In 1539, led expeditions into North America, exploring much of what is now the southern United States in search of treasure, and is credited with discovering the Mississippi River in 1540. Later that year succumbed to fever, dying in what is now Louisiana.
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Robert E. Peary - Arctic Explorer (1856-1920)
U.S. Naval Officer who lead many expeditions exploring arctic regions. He became familiar with native arctic peoples. His expedition in 1891 proved that Greenland was an island. After numerous prior attempts, he and five companions - four Eskimo and an African-American, Matthew Henson, succeeded in first reaching the North Pole in 1909 - or so they thought. In the 1980s, re-examination of his diaries and other newly-released documents suggest that while coming very close, they probably fell short by 30 to 50 miles.
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James Ross - Polar Explorer (1800-1862)
Born in Scotland, he entered the British Navy at age twelve. Over the next fifteen years he sailed on numerous expeditions exploring the Arctic. He is credited with discovering the position of the North Magnetic Pole in northern Canada. Between 1839 and 1843 he commanded an exploratory expedition to Antarctica. The Ross Sea and Ross Ice Shelf in Antartica are named for him, as is Ross Island on which is an active volcano, Mt. Erebus, named after the ship he commanded.
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Pedro Menendez de Aviles - Spanish Soldier (1519-1574)
He was sent to Florida by King Philip II of Spain on a mission to kill the French Huguenots who had settled there. He and two thousand Spanish soldiers landed in Florida in August of 1565, establishing a settlement at St. Augustine, which is now the oldest continually inhabited city in the U.S. His forces then attacked the nearby French colony of Fort Caroline, mercilessly killing all of its inhabitants. He also explored the Atlantic coastline as far north as South Carolina, and constructed forts along the coast. He returned to Spain in 1567, continued in military service and later died in a naval battle against the British.
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Meriwether Lewis - American Explorer (1774-1809)
William Clark - American Explorer (1770-1838)
Lewis and Clark met in military service on the U.S. frontier in 1795. In 1803 Lewis led, with Clark as co-leader, the "Corps of Discovery", an expedition in exploration of the then vast Western frontier. Between 1803 and 1806 they traveled up the Missouri River, across the Rocky and Bitterroot Mountains, and down the Columbia River to the Pacific Ocean. Lewis returned to great celebrity and popular acclaim, but died of a gunshot in 1809 under suspect circumstances. Clark became a respected administrator of Indian affairs.
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