Discovering the World

495 years ago, Ferdinand Magellan began his circumnavigation of the world. Like Columbus, Magellan wished to find a route to Asia by sailing West, because sailing around Africa was time-consuming and the Portuguese had a monopoly on the routes due to the Treaty of Tordesillas of 1494. 

Magellan had fallen out of favor with the Portuguese, so he went to Spanish King Charles I with the proposal to fulfill Columbus' original plan of sailing West to reach the spices of the East. The king approved the mission and had the Spanish crown fund Magellan and provide the necessary ships. 

On August 10, 1519, Magellan and his fleet of five ships set sail from Seville and began the first circumnavigation of the world. Sailing south, Magellan found a passage through South America that he named the All Saints Channel but is today called the Straight of Magellan. He had found the passage through the Americas. 

Upon reaching the Philippines, Magellam became involved in local politics and attacked the enemy of his hosts. In the attack, Magellan was killed. One of his men wrote "...they killed our mirror, our light, our comfort, and our true guide." 

Despite the fact that the leader of the expedition was dead, his fleet completed the first circumnavigation of the globe. It had not been Magellan's goal to go all the way around the world, but his diminished crew had no other choice but to sail West to Spain. The survivors of the expedition discovered the true size of the planet -- as well as a need for an international date line because, despite keeping careful notes in the ship's log, the crew was a day behind Spain since they had traveled West.