In the 16th century, an age of great marine and terrestrial exploration,

Ferdinand Magellan led the first expedition to sail around the world. As a young

Portuguese noble, he served the king of Portugal, but he became involved in the

quagmire of political intrigue at court and lost the king’s favour. After he was

dismissed from service by the king of Portugal, he offered to serve the future

Emperor Charles V of Spain.A papal decree of 1493 had assigned all land in the New World west of 50

degrees W longitude to Spain and all the land east of that line to Portugal. Magellan

offered to prove that the East Indies fell under Spanish authority. On September 20,

1519, Magellan set sail from Spain with five ships. More than a year later, one of

these ships was exploring the topography of South America. Finally they found the

passage sought near 50 degrees S latitude. Magellan named this passage the Straight

of all Saints, but today it is known as the Strait of Magellan.

One ship deserted while in this passage and returned to Spain, so fewer sailors

were privileged to gaze at that first panorama of the Pacific Ocean. Those who

remained crossed the meridian now known as the International Date Line in the early

spring of the 1521 after 98 days on the Pacific Ocean. During those long days at

sea, many of Magellan’s men died of starvation and disease.

Later, Magellan became involved in an insular conflict in the Philippines and

was killed in a tribal battle. Only on ship and 17 sailors under the command of the

Basque navigator Elcano survived to complete the westward journey to Spain and

thus prove once and for all that the world is round, with no precipice at the edge.