Italian Explorer Christopher Columbus
(born between 25 August and 31 October 1451,
died 20 May 1506)

ROSS SIMPSON

One year after the United States doubled its territory with the Louisiana
Purchase, the Lewis and Clark expedition left St. Louis, Missouri, on a 
mission to explore the Northwest from the Mississippi River to the
Pacific Ocean.

Even before the U.S. government concluded purchase negotiations with
France, President Thomas Jefferson commissioned his private secretary Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, an army captain, to lead an expedition
into what is now the U.S. Northwest. On May 14, the “Corps of Discovery”
–featuring approximately 45 men (although only an approximate 33 men
would make the full journey)–left St. Louis for the American interior.

                       Meriwether Lewis and William Clark.

CAMILLE BOHANNON

Joseph Rudyard Kipling
(December 30, 1865 – January 18, 1936) 

Kipling was an English journalist, short-story writer,
poet, and novelist. He was born in India, which inspired
much of his work. Kipling’s works of fiction include The
Jungle Book, Kim, and many short stories, including
"The Man Who Would Be King".

Ferdinand Magellan (1480 – April 27, 1521) 

After sailing through the dangerous straits below South America that now
bear his name, Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan entered  the Pacific Ocean with three ships, becoming the first European explorer to reach the
Pacific from the Atlantic.

On September 20, 1519, Magellan set sail from Spain in an effort to find a
western sea route to the rich Spice Islands of Indonesia. In command of
five ships and 270 men, Magellan sailed to West Africa and then to Brazil,
where he searched the South American coast for a strait that would take
him to the Pacific.

On Easter day at midnight, the Spanish captains mutinied against their
Portuguese captain, but Magellan crushed the revolt, executing one of the
captains and leaving another ashore when his ship left St. Julian in August.

On October 21, he finally discovered the strait he had been seeking. The
Strait of Magellan, as it became known, is located near the tip of South
America, separating Tierra del Fuego and the continental mainland. Only
three ships entered the passage; one had been wrecked and another
deserted. It took 38 days to navigate the treacherous strait, and when
ocean was sighted at the other end Magellan wept with joy.