Historical Explorations and Expeditions

Joe Simpson wrote (Touching the Void) in 1988, describing his harrowing experience of surviving a mountaineering accident in the Peruvian Andes.

Ernest Shackleton wrote (The Endurance) in 1919, describing his expedition to Antarctica and the sinking of his ship, the Endurance.

Richard E. Byrd wrote (Alone) in 1938, describing his experience of spending five months alone at an advance weather station in Antarctica.

Peter Matthiessen wrote (The Snow Leopard) in 1978, describing his journey to the Himalayas in search of the elusive snow leopard.

Neil Armstrong became the first human to walk on the moon during the Apollo 11 mission in 1969.

Yuri Gagarin, a Soviet cosmonaut, became the first person to travel into space on April 12, 1961.

Christopher Columbus was an Italian explorer and navigator who completed four voyages across the Atlantic Ocean, under the patronage of the Spanish King and Queen, between 1492 and 1503. His expeditions were the first European contact with the Caribbean, Central America, and South America.

Robert Peary was an American explorer who led several expeditions to the Arctic. In 1909, he and his team became the first people to reach the North Pole.

Ferdinand Magellan was a Portuguese explorer who led the first expedition to circumnavigate the globe. He set sail from Spain in 1519 with five ships, but only one, the Victoria, returned to Spain in 1522.

David Livingstone was a Scottish explorer and missionary who conducted extensive explorations in Africa. He is best known for his journeys to the Zambezi River and Victoria Falls.

Roald Amundsen was a Norwegian explorer who led the first expedition to reach the South Pole. He reached the pole on December 14, 1911, just ahead of a British expedition led by Robert Falcon Scott.

Edmund Hillary was a New Zealand mountaineer who, along with Tenzing Norgay, became the first people to reach the summit of Mount Everest, the highest mountain in the world, on May 29, 1953.

Charles Lindbergh was an American aviator who made the first solo transatlantic flight in 1927. He flew from New York to Paris in a plane named the Spirit of St. Louis.

Percy Fawcett was a British explorer who conducted several expeditions to the Amazon rainforest in search of a lost city he believed existed there. He disappeared in 1925 while on an expedition to the Mato Grosso region of Brazil.

Hans Meyer was a German explorer who, along with Ludwig Purtscheller, became the first people to reach the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain in Africa, in 1889.