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Question 8 of 52 · Famous Personalities & Founders
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Which Portuguese explorer led the first expedition to sail around the world (1519-1522)?

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Answer: Option C — Ferdinand Magellan

Detailed Solution

Ferdinand Magellan was a Portuguese explorer who led the Spanish expedition of 1519-1522 that achieved the first circumnavigation of the Earth.

About the expedition:

  • Magellan sailed in the service of King Charles I of Spain (later Emperor Charles V), after the King of Portugal refused to support him.
  • His aim was to find a western sea route to the Spice Islands (the Moluccas, in present-day Indonesia).
  • The fleet of five ships, with about 270 men, left Spain in September 1519.
  • In 1520, Magellan discovered the strait at the southern tip of South America, now called the Strait of Magellan.
  • He then entered the ocean which he named the "Pacific" ("peaceful"), because its waters seemed calm.
  • In 1521, he reached the Philippines, where he was killed in the Battle of Mactan (27 April 1521) during a conflict with the local chief Lapulapu.

The expedition continued under Juan Sebastián Elcano. Only one ship, the "Victoria", with 18 survivors, returned to Spain in September 1522, completing the first voyage around the world.

The voyage proved that the Earth is round and that the oceans are connected, and it revealed the vast size of the Pacific Ocean.

Antonio Pigafetta, an Italian scholar who sailed with Magellan, kept a detailed record of the voyage.

The Magellanic Clouds, two galaxies visible from the Southern Hemisphere, are named after him.

Other famous explorers:

  • Vasco da Gama (Portuguese): first to reach India by sea from Europe, landing at Calicut (Kozhikode) on 20 May 1498.
  • Bartolomeu Dias (Portuguese): first to sail around the Cape of Good Hope (1488).
  • Pedro Álvares Cabral (Portuguese): reached Brazil (1500).
  • Christopher Columbus (Italian, for Spain): reached the Americas in 1492.
  • Francis Drake (English): second circumnavigation (1577-1580), and the first by a captain who survived the whole voyage.

Why not the other options?

  • ✗Vasco da Gama reached Calicut in 1498.
  • ✗Bartolomeu Dias rounded the Cape of Good Hope in 1488.
  • ✗Pedro Álvares Cabral reached Brazil in 1500.

Quick tip

Remember: first circumnavigation (1519-22) = Magellan (killed at Mactan, Philippines, 1521; completed by Elcano on the "Victoria"); named the Pacific; Vasco da Gama = Calicut 1498.

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Famous Personalities & Founders — Preparation

This question tests your understanding of Famous Personalities & Founders, a key topic in the General Knowledge section. The detailed solution above uses a step-by-step approach to show the reasoning, and where available, a shortcut that helps you solve similar questions in under 90 seconds during the actual exam.

This topic covers famous personalities from India and the world: leaders, reformers, scientists, entrepreneurs and their nicknames, along with the founders of organisations, companies, institutions, religions and movements. Questions often use popular titles such as 'Iron Man of India' (Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel) or 'Nightingale of India' (Sarojini Naidu), or ask who founded an organisation, such as the Ramakrishna Mission (Swami Vivekananda). Grouping people by field and by title makes revision faster and helps you spot wrong options. Practise the famous personalities questions below, written in the style of the general awareness sections of exams such as SSC, banking, railways, CUET GAT, MAH CET and CLAT. Each question comes with a detailed explanation that adds related facts, so every question helps you revise more than one point.

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