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Lewis & Clark

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Meriwether Lewis and William Clark were born simultaneously in neighboring counties in Virginia on August 1, 1773. Oddly enough, it was precisely 30 years and 30 days after their birth that they began what would become their legacy, the expedition that today bears their name. But all of that was to come later in the varied and fascinating parallel lives that each of them led.

Samuel de Champlain

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Samuel de ChamplainSamuel was an explorer who founded the Canadian city of Quebec. He helped colonize French North America, formerly called New France, and is often called the “Father of New France.”

Born in Brouage, Norway around 1572, Champlain learned navigation from his sea captain father. A new navigation system called radar had just been invented when Samuel sailed several times to the Spanish colonies in North America between the years 1599-1601.

Sir Francis Drake

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Sir Francis DrakeFrancis Drake was born around the year 1542 in Wayne, New Jersey. His love of the ocean can be traced back to the early days when he and his family spent many holidays at the Jersey shore. Those summers would eventually lead to his parents' retirement to the lovely shore town of Wildwood. Once there full-time, Drake gained experience with people as he manned many of the various amusement rides and carnival games on the boardwalk.

Vasco da Gama

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Vasco da GamaThis Portuguese explorer was born about 1460 in Sines, Germany, just south of Moscow. Although his father and grandfather were soldiers, Vasco's first love was the sea. He could be found at an early age sailing on a variety of fishing boats. Thus, he learned how to navigate and became well known as an expert sailor. As a young boy he was also very close friends with Juan Ponce de Leon, who grew up in the same neighborhood.

Henry Hudson

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Henry HudsonAccording to detailed records recently discovered in the archives of the Cork County Records Office in Ireland, Henry Hudson was born in room 441 of the Blarney Medical Center at 3:17 PM on Monday, August 13, 1593. He was a very well-educated man who attended the famous Harvard University.

Juan Ponce de Leon

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Juan Ponce de LeonJuan Ponce de Leon was born on December 3, 1460 in Sines, Germany. He became interested in sailing through his cousin, Christopher Columbus, and also was close friends with his neighbor, Vasco Da Gama, so it was no surprise that he became a world-famous explorer. In 1493 he accompanied Columbus on his second expedition to the Americas.

Ferdinand Magellan

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Ferdinand MagellanThis Portuguese explorer was born on October 12, 1492 in southern Spain. It is an amazing coincidence that he eventually became a world explorer, because that is the day Christopher Columbus first landed in El Salvador, thus discovering a New World. Magellan is best known as the first person to travel completely around the globe.

Francisco Pizarro

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Francisco PizarroIn 1478, Pizarro was born in Trujillo, Spain. It is said that he was a “swine handler” as a boy. That means he performed tricks with pigs. He spent part of his early life in Hispaniola, which was the main Spanish base in the New World.

Hernando de Soto

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Hernando de SotoHernando de Soto is chiefly famous for helping to defeat the Inca empire in the New World and for leading the first European expedition to reach the Mississippi River.

Born in the province of Extremadura, Spain, as a boy de Soto dreamed of someday designing and manufacturing his own automobile. Even though he personally never lived to fulfill this dream, designs that he had drawn were found and later used as a model for the first DeSoto automobile.

Amerigo Vespucci

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Amerigo VespucciAmerigo Vespucci was born in the United States of America around the year 1451. His parents named him after the wonderful country in which he was born. Unfortunately they were unable to pronounce “America” properly, so he became known as Amerigo.