Afanasy Nikitin is a Russian traveler, Tver merchant and writer. Traveled from Tvrea to Persia and India (1468-1474). On the way back I visited the African coast (Somalia), Muscat and Turkey. Travel notes Nikitin’s “Walking across Three Seas” is a valuable literary and historical monument. Marked by the versatility of his observations, as well as his religious tolerance, unusual for the Middle Ages, combined with devotion to the Christian faith and his native land.
Semyon Dezhnev (1605 -1673)
An outstanding Russian navigator, explorer, traveler, explorer of Northern and Eastern Siberia. In 1648, Dezhnev was the first among the famous European navigators (80 years earlier than Vitus Bering) to navigate the Bering Strait, which separates Alaska from Chukotka. A Cossack ataman and fur trader, Dezhnev actively participated in the development of Siberia (Dezhnev himself married a Yakut woman, Abakayada Syuchyu).
Grigory Shelikhov (1747 - 1795)
Russian industrialist who carried out geographical studies northern islands Pacific Ocean and Alaska. Founded the first settlements in Russian America. The strait between the island is named after him. Kodiak and the North American continent, a bay in the Sea of Okhotsk, a city in the Irkutsk region and a volcano in the Kuril Islands. The remarkable Russian merchant, geographer and traveler, nicknamed by G. R. Derzhavin “Russian Columbus”, was born in 1747 in the city of Rylsk, Kursk province, into a bourgeois family. Overcoming the space from Irkutsk to the Lama (Okhotsk) Sea became his first journey. In 1781, Shelikhov created the North-East Company, which in 1799 was transformed into the Russian-American Trading Company.
Dmitry Ovtsyn (1704 - 1757)
Russian hydrographer and traveler, led the second of the detachments of the Great Northern Expedition. He made the first hydrographic inventory of the Siberian coast between the mouths of the Ob and Yenisei. Discovered the Gydan Bay and the Gydan Peninsula. Participated in the last voyage of Vitus Bering to the shores of North America. A cape and an island in the Yenisei Bay bear his name. Dmitry Leontyevich Ovtsyn had been in the Russian fleet since 1726, took part in the first voyage of Vitus Bering to the shores of Kamchatka, and by the time the expedition was organized he had risen to the rank of lieutenant. The significance of Ovtsyn’s expedition, as well as the rest of the detachments of the Great Northern Expedition, is extremely great. Based on the inventories compiled by Ovtsyn, maps of the places he explored were prepared until the beginning of the 20th century.
Ivan Krusenstern (1770 - 1846)
Russian navigator, admiral, led the first Russian round-the-world expedition. First put on the map most coast of the island Sakhalin. One of the founders of the Russian Geographical Society. The strait in the northern part of the Kuril Islands, the passage between the island, bears his name. Tsushima and the islands of Iki and Okinoshima in the Korea Strait, islands in the Bering Strait and the Tuamotu archipelago, a mountain on Novaya Zemlya. On June 26, 1803, the ships Neva and Nadezhda left Kronstadt and headed for the shores of Brazil. This was the first passage of Russian ships to the southern hemisphere. On August 19, 1806, while staying in Copenhagen, the Russian ship was visited by a Danish prince who wished to meet with Russian sailors and listen to their stories. The first Russian circumnavigation was of great scientific and practical importance and attracted the attention of the whole world. Russian navigators corrected in many points english maps, considered then the most accurate.
Thaddeus Bellingshausen (1778 - 1852)
Thaddeus Bellingshausen is a Russian navigator, participant in the first Russian circumnavigation of I. F. Kruzenshtern. Leader of the first Russian Antarctic expedition to discover Antarctica. Admiral. The sea off the coast of Antarctica, the underwater basin between the continental slopes of Antarctica and South America, islands in the Pacific and Atlantic oceans and the Aral Sea, the first Soviet polar station on the island bear his name. King George in the South Shetland Islands archipelago. The future discoverer of the southern polar continent was born on September 20, 1778 on the island of Ezel near the city of Arensburg in Livonia (Estonia).
Fyodor Litke (1797-1882)
Fyodor Litke - Russian navigator and geographer, count and admiral. Leader of the round-the-world expedition and research on Novaya Zemlya and the Barents Sea. Discovered two groups of islands in the Caroline chain. One of the founders and leaders of the Russian Geographical Society. Litke's name is given to 15 points on the map. Litke led the nineteenth Russian round-the-world expedition for hydrographic studies of little-known areas of the Pacific Ocean. Litke's journey was one of the most successful in the history of Russian voyages around the world and had a great scientific significance. The exact coordinates of the main points of Kamchatka were determined, the islands were described - Caroline, Karaginsky, etc., the Chukotka coast from Cape Dezhnev to the mouth of the river. Anadyr. The discoveries were so important that Germany and France, arguing over the Caroline Islands, turned to Litke for advice on their location.
Updated: 10/22/2019 08:05:28
Expert: Savva Goldshmidt
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Today we know almost everything about our planet; every corner of the Earth has been carefully explored, described, photographed and found its place in geographical textbooks. And thanks to the active development of tourism, you can visit any exotic countries yourself or even go on a cruise to the shores of Antarctica. But several centuries ago, the only reliable source of knowledge about distant countries and territories were brave travelers who made an invaluable contribution to the exploration of our planet. Their names and discoveries will forever remain in history. Below we invite you to learn about the ten most famous travelers.
Rating of the most famous travelers and their discoveries
| Nomination | place | Traveler | fame rating |
| 10 most famous travelers and their discoveries | 10 | 4.1 | |
| 9 | 4.2 | ||
| 8 | 4.3 | ||
| 7 | 4.4 | ||
| 6 | 4.5 | ||
| 5 | 4.6 | ||
| 4 | 4.7 | ||
| 3 | 4.8 | ||
| 2 | 4.9 | ||
| 1 | 5.0 |
Famous Norwegian traveler, known primarily for his polar expeditions. Roald Amundsen dreamed of becoming a navigator since childhood; he was inspired by the example of Rear Admiral John Franklin. He began preparing for the rigors of life as a sailor and explorer in his teens by exercising, skiing, and generally leading a spartan lifestyle. During his preparation, Amundsen also attended lectures by polar explorer Eivin Astrup, which finally strengthened the young man's determination to devote his life to polar exploration. But, having tried to become a member of the expedition to Franz Josef Land, he was rejected due to lack of experience.
However, Amundsen did not give up, and in 1986, having received the rank of navigator, he went on an Antarctic expedition as part of Adrien de Gerlache's group. During this trip, he became the first person in the world to ski across Two Hammock Island. Together with his team, he was forced to spend thirteen months in the ice of the Southern Ocean, after which they had to return without reaching their goal. The turning point in Amundsen's life came in 1901, when he bought the yacht Gjoa and began to prepare again for a trip to the South Pole. Together with the crew on a converted fishing yacht, they reached the shores of Antarctica and reached their goal in mid-December, several weeks ahead of Captain Robert Scott.
Almost all of Roald Amundsen's life was spent on various expeditions. In 1928, his plane crashed while he went in search of his colleague, Umberto Nobile. Rescuers were never able to find the researcher himself.
David Livingston was a Scottish missionary who explored Africa and introduced its culture and customs to the world. Having received his doctorate, he applied to the London Missionary Society, and thus ended up on the African continent, starting his journey from its southern part. For the first seven years, Livingstone lived in the country of the Bechuanas, in what is now Botswana. Then he had the idea to study South African rivers to explore new routes into the interior of Africa. In 1849, he explored the Kalahari Desert and discovered Lake Ngami, then set off on a journey along the Zambezi River. David Livingstone became the first European to cross the African continent. In 1855 he made one of his greatest discoveries- discovered a huge waterfall 120 meters high, located on the border of Zambia and Zimbabwe. Livingstone named it Victoria Falls, in honor of the Queen of England.
A year later, the missionary returned home and published a book there, in which he described in detail his research and travels. He was also awarded a gold medal from the Royal Geographical Society. Traveling to Africa again, Livingston continued his travels, focusing primarily on exploration. big rivers. They also discovered lakes Bangveulu and Mvelu. In 1873, while searching for the sources of the Nile, he died of malaria near the village of Chitambo (Zambia). During his lifetime, Livingston gained fame as a tireless traveler and received local residents nicknamed "The Great Lion", and after his death he left behind a lot of invaluable information about Africa.
The famous Russian traveler and scientist who made a huge contribution to the study of the indigenous peoples of Oceania, Australia and South-East Asia. In his youth, Miklouho-Maclay was educated in Germany and was an assistant to the natural scientist Ernst Haeckel. Upon returning to Russia, he managed to convince the Russian Geographical Society of the need to explore the Pacific territories, and in the fall of 1870 he set off for New Guinea on the military ship Vityaz. Miklouho-Maclay explained his choice of location by the fact that on these islands the primitive society is of exceptional ethnographic and anthropological value, since it was least affected by civilization.
The Russian researcher lived among the Papuans for more than a year, becoming familiar with their customs, daily life, and religious rituals. In 1872, on the clipper "Emerald" Miklouho-Maclay circumnavigated the Philippine and a number of other Pacific islands. Two years later he returned to New Guinea and lived for some time in its western part, and in 1876 he went to study Western Micronesia and the islands of Melanesia. Miklouho-Maclay was known not only as a scientist, but also as a humanist, public figure, fighter for the rights of natives and an opponent of slavery. He spent the last years of his life in St. Petersburg.
The navigator is known for his three voyages around the world, during which new territories were discovered and detailed maps islands of the Pacific, Atlantic, Indian Ocean, as well as the coasts of Newfoundland, Australia and New Zealand. James Cook was born and raised in a farmer's family, but against his father's wishes, he decided to become a sailor. From the age of 18 he worked as a cabin boy, then rose to the rank of officer and took part in the Seven Years' War.
In 1768, the English government decided to send a scientific expedition to explore the Pacific Ocean. This difficult task was entrusted to the already experienced navigator James Cook. He became the captain of the three-masted ship Endeavor and was ordered to set course for the islands of Tahiti in order to observe the passage of Venus through the solar disk, which would allow him to calculate the distance from the Earth to the Sun. Also, the mission, in addition to the astronomical one, had another goal - to find the Southern Continent. During this voyage Cook discovered New Zealand and explored the east coast of Australia. A few years later, a second expedition took place, which was accompanied by a number of discoveries: Norfolk Island, Caledonia, and the South Sandwich Islands. It was followed by a third, during which Hawaii was discovered. In the Hawaiian Islands, an armed clash occurred between members of the ship and the local population, which resulted in the death of Cook. During his voyages, the captain managed to create such accurate and detailed maps that they remained relevant until the mid-19th century.
The legendary Scandinavian navigator is considered the first European in history to set foot on the shores of the North American continent. Leif Eriksson, nicknamed “the lucky one,” grew up in the family of the Viking Erik the Red, the discoverer of Greenland. Around 1000 AD he met the Norwegian Bjarni Herjulfsson, from whom he heard a story about unknown western lands. Burning with the desire to make a discovery and find new territories for the settlement of his fellow tribesmen, Ericsson purchased a ship, assembled a crew and set off.
During this journey, he discovered three regions of Canada. The first coast that greeted the sailors was Baffin Island, which the Scandinavians called Helluland (stone). Next was the Labrador peninsula, which received from them the name Markland, which means " forest land". And finally, the third, most attractive beach the island of Newfoundland, which Ericsson and his people called Vinland, that is, “fertile land.” There they founded a small settlement and stayed for the winter. After returning to his homeland, Leif instructed his brother, Torvald, to continue the exploration of Vinland. However, the second expedition of the descendants of the Vikings to the North American shores failed, as they had to retreat after fierce clashes with the Canadian Indian tribe.
The first explorer in the world to travel around the world and make a series of important discoveries. Magellan was born in Portugal into a noble family. His first sea expedition took place in 1505, when he went to India as part of Francisco de Almeida's squadron. Soon Magellan had a plan to sail to the Molucco Islands in the hope of finding a western route to them. Unable to obtain the consent of the Portuguese monarch, he made the same request to the King of Spain and eventually received five ships at his disposal. In 1519, Magellan's expedition left the harbor.
After a year of sailing, Ferdinand Magellan and his flotilla reached the shores of South America, where he was forced to stop in the harbor for the winter. In the same year, he discovered the strait, later named after him, and entered the ocean. For almost four months of sailing through uncharted waters, the travelers were never overtaken by a storm, so they decided to call this ocean the Pacific. The expedition reached Mariana Archipelago, then the Philippine Islands were discovered. This point became the end of Magellan's voyage, as he was killed during a battle with a tribe on the island of Mactan. Only one ship returned to Spain, bringing news of great discoveries.
Portuguese navigator, discoverer of the sea route to India, and the first European to set foot on Indian soil. Vasco da Gama grew up in a noble family and received an education; he joined the navy at a young age. He proved himself in battles with French corsairs and managed to earn the favor of King Manuel the First, who entrusted him with leading an expedition to India. Three ships and more than 170 crew members were involved in the journey. Vasco da Gama set sail in 1497, and by December of the same year they managed to reach the shores South Africa, and six months later the ships moored to Indian coast. Although the travelers' plans to establish trade with the locals were not successful, they were greeted with honor in their homeland, and da Gama was appointed admiral of the Indian Ocean.
During his life, Vasco da Gama made two more voyages to India. The purpose of the second expedition was to establish Portuguese trading posts in new territories. The third time he went there was in 1502 to strengthen the power of the Portuguese government and fight corruption in the colonial administration. The navigator spent his last years in India.
Florentine navigator and merchant who first put forward the theory that discovered by Christopher Columbus part of the world is a new, previously unknown continent. In his youth, Amerigo Vespucci graduated from a prestigious university and later worked in the Medici trading and banking house. In 1499, he joined the crew of a ship under the command of the Spanish admiral Alonso de Ojeda. The purpose of the expedition was to explore the lands of the New World.
During this sea voyage, Vespucci served as a navigator, geographer and cartographer. He described in detail all the details regarding the area, animal and flora new lands, meetings with natives, and also compiled a map of the starry sky. He subsequently took part in another expedition, in 1503, during which he commanded a small ship. Vespucci was the first explorer to explore a significant part of the Brazilian coast.
Christopher Columbus is best known as the discoverer of America, although he made other important discoveries during his life. He grew up in a poor family, but received a good education. In 1470 he took part in trade sea expeditions. Columbus's main dream was to find a sea route to India across the Atlantic. He repeatedly turned to European monarchs for help in organizing and financing the expedition, but only in 1492 received consent from the Spanish Queen Isabella.
Having received three ships at his disposal and having assembled a crew of volunteers, Christopher Columbus set sail. He discovered the Bahamas, Cuba and Haiti. This was followed by a second expedition, during which Jamaica, Puerto Rico, the Lesser Antilles and the Virgin Islands were discovered. In 1498, Columbus set out on his third voyage, which resulted in the exploration of the island of Trinidad. And finally, in 1502, he managed to obtain permission from the King of Spain for the fourth expedition, during which Columbus’s ships reached the shores of Central America. Throughout his subsequent life, Christopher Columbus was sure that the land he discovered was connected to Asia, and he nevertheless found a sea route to India.
One of famous travelers, which inspired many discoverers, including Christopher Columbus. Marco Polo grew up in the family of a Venetian merchant and early years used to accompany him on his travels, while searching for new trade routes. In 1271, the Pope sent them to China, appointing them as his official representatives. After a five-year expedition through Asia Minor, Persia and Kashmir, the Polo family reached the residence of Kublai Khan, ruler of the Mongol state of Yuan, of which China was at that time a part. The khan immediately liked the young and brave Marco, so he decided to leave the travelers at his court, where they spent the next 17 years.
In 1291, Kublai Khan assigned the Polo family to accompany the flotilla that was transporting the Mongol princess to Persia, where she was to become the wife of the Persian Shah. But during the trip, news came of the death of the Shah, after which the Polos decided to return to Venice. Soon after returning home, Marco took part in the war with Genoa and was captured by the Genoese. While imprisoned, he met the Italian writer Rustichello, who wrote down a detailed account of his amazing adventures and life in China.
The largest country has been gathering for centuries. The discoverers of new lands and seas were travelers. Having paved the way to the new, mysterious, through unpredictable difficulties and risks, they achieved their goal. I think that these people, on a personal level, having overcome the dangers and suffering of the expeditions, accomplished a feat. I want to remind you of three of them, who did a lot for the state and science.
Great Russian travelers
Dezhnev Semyon Ivanovich
Semyon Dezhnev (1605-1673), Ustyug Cossack, was the first to circumnavigate the most eastern part our Fatherland and all of Eurasia. A strait passed between Asia and America, opening the way from the Arctic Ocean to the Pacific.
By the way, Dezhnev discovered this strait 80 years earlier than Bering, who visited only its southern part.
The cape is named after Dezhnev, the same one next to which the date line runs.
After the discovery of the strait, an international commission of geographers decided that this place was the most convenient for drawing such a line on the map. And now a new day on Earth begins at Cape Dezhnev. Please note, 3 hours earlier than in Japan and 12 earlier than in the London suburb of Greenwich, where universal time begins. Isn't it time to combine Prime Meridian with the date line? Moreover, such proposals have been coming from scientists for a long time.
Pyotr Petrovich Semyonov-Tien-Shansky
Pyotr Petrovich Semyonov-Tien-Shansky (1827-1914), leading scientist of the Russian Geographical Society. Not an armchair scientist. He had a disposition that only climbers can appreciate. Literally a conqueror of mountain peaks.
Among the Europeans, he was the first to penetrate the inaccessible mountains of the Central Tien Shan. He discovered the peak of Khan Tengri and the huge glaciers on its slopes. At that time, in the West, with the light hand of the German scientist Humboldt, it was believed that ridges of volcanoes were erupting there.
Semenov-Tien-Shansky discovered the sources of the Naryn and Saryjaz rivers, and along the way he discovered that the Chu River, despite the opinion of geographers of the “international community,” does not flow from Lake Issyk-Kul. He penetrated the upper reaches of the Syr Darya, which were also untrodden before him.
The question of what Semyonov-Tien-Shansky discovered is very easy to answer. He opened the Tien Shan to the scientific world, at the same time offering this world a completely new way of knowledge. Semyonov Tien-Shansky was the first to study addiction mountainous terrain from him geological structure. Through the eyes of a geologist, botanist and zoologist rolled into one, he saw nature in its living family connections.
Thus was born the original Russian geographical school, which was based on the reliability of an eyewitness and was distinguished by its versatility, depth and integrity.
Mikhail Petrovich Lazarev
Mikhail Petrovich Lazarev (1788-1851), Russian admiral. On the ship "Mirny". In 1813, Lazarev was tasked with establishing regular communications between St. Petersburg and Russian America. Russian America included the regions of Alaska, the Aleutian Islands, as well as Russian trading posts in the states of British Columbia, Washington, Oregon and California. The most southern point– Fort Ross, 80 km from San Francisco. These places have already been explored and inhabited by Russia (by the way, there is information that one of the settlements in Alaska was founded by Dezhnev’s companions in the 17th century). Lazarev traveled around the world. Along the way, in the Pacific Ocean he discovered new islands, which he named after Suvorov.
Where Lazarev is especially revered is in Sevastopol.
The admiral had not only voyages around the world, but also participated in battles with an enemy many times superior in the number of ships. During the time that Lazarev commanded the Black Sea Fleet, dozens of new ships were built, including the first ship with a metal hull. Lazarev began to train sailors in a new way, at sea, in an environment close to combat.
He took care of the Maritime Library in Sevastopol, built a meeting house and a school there for the children of sailors, and began building the admiralty. He also built the admiralties in Novorossiysk, Nikolaev and Odessa.
In Sevastopol, there are always fresh flowers at the grave and at the monument to Admiral Lazarev.
Without Russian discoverers, the world map would be completely different. Our compatriots - travelers and sailors - made discoveries that enriched world science. About the eight most noticeable ones - in our material.
Bellingshausen's first Antarctic expedition
In 1819, the navigator, captain of the 2nd rank, Thaddeus Bellingshausen led the first round-the-world Antarctic expedition. The purpose of the voyage was to explore the waters of the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian oceans, as well as to prove or disprove the existence of the sixth continent - Antarctica. Having equipped two sloops - "Mirny" and "Vostok" (under the command), Bellingshausen's detachment went to sea.
The expedition lasted 751 days and wrote many bright pages in the history of geographical discoveries. The main one was made on January 28, 1820.
By the way, attempts to open the white continent had been made before, but did not bring the desired success: a little luck was missing, and perhaps Russian perseverance.
Thus, the navigator James Cook, summing up the results of his second voyage around the world, wrote: “I went around the ocean of the southern hemisphere in high latitudes and rejected the possibility of the existence of a continent, which, if it could be discovered, would only be near the pole in places inaccessible to navigation.”
During Bellingshausen's Antarctic expedition, more than 20 islands were discovered and mapped, sketches of Antarctic species and the animals living there were made, and the navigator himself went down in history as a great discoverer.
“The name of Bellingshausen can be directly placed alongside the names of Columbus and Magellan, with the names of those people who did not retreat in the face of difficulties and imaginary impossibilities created by their predecessors, with the names of people who followed their own independent path, and therefore were destroyers of barriers to discovery, which designate epochs,” wrote the German geographer August Petermann.
Discoveries of Semenov Tien-Shansky
Central Asia at the beginning of the 19th century was one of the least studied areas globe. An undeniable contribution to the study of the “unknown land” - as geographers called Central Asia - was made by Pyotr Semenov.
In 1856, the researcher’s main dream came true - he went on an expedition to the Tien Shan.
“My work on Asian geography led me to a thorough acquaintance with everything that was known about inner Asia. I was especially attracted to the most central of the Asian mountain ranges - the Tien Shan, which had not yet been touched by a European traveler and was known only from scanty Chinese sources.
Semenov's research in Central Asia lasted two years. During this time, the sources of the Chu, Syr Darya and Sary-Jaz rivers, the peaks of Khan Tengri and others were mapped.
The traveler established the location of the Tien Shan ridges, the height of the snow line in this area and discovered the huge Tien Shan glaciers.
In 1906, by decree of the emperor, for the merits of the discoverer, the prefix began to be added to his surname - Tien Shan.
Asia Przhevalsky
In the 70−80s. XIX century Nikolai Przhevalsky led four expeditions to Central Asia. This little-studied area has always attracted the researcher, and traveling to Central Asia has been his long-time dream.
Over the years of research have been studied mountain systems Kun-Lun , ridges of Northern Tibet, sources of the Yellow River and Yangtze, basins Kuku-nora and Lob-nora.
Przhevalsky was the second person after Marco Polo to reach lakes-swamps Lob-nora!
In addition, the traveler discovered dozens of species of plants and animals that are named after him.
“Happy fate made it possible to make a feasible exploration of the least known and most inaccessible countries of inner Asia,” Nikolai Przhevalsky wrote in his diary.
Kruzenshtern's circumnavigation
The names of Ivan Kruzenshtern and Yuri Lisyansky became known after the first Russian round-the-world expedition.
For three years, from 1803 to 1806. - that’s how long the first circumnavigation of the world lasted - the ships “Nadezhda” and “Neva”, having passed through Atlantic Ocean, rounded Cape Horn, and then through the waters of the Pacific Ocean reached Kamchatka, the Kuril Islands and Sakhalin. The expedition clarified the map of the Pacific Ocean and collected information about the nature and inhabitants of Kamchatka and the Kuril Islands.
During the voyage, Russian sailors crossed the equator for the first time. This event was celebrated, according to tradition, with the participation of Neptune.
The sailor, dressed as the lord of the seas, asked Krusenstern why he came here with his ships, because earlier Russian flag not seen in these places. To which the expedition commander replied: “For the glory of science and our fatherland!”
Nevelsky Expedition
Admiral Gennady Nevelskoy is rightfully considered one of the outstanding navigators of the 19th century. In 1849, on the transport ship "Baikal" he went on an expedition to Far East.
The Amur expedition lasted until 1855, during which time Nevelskoy made several major discoveries in the area of the lower reaches of the Amur and the northern shores Sea of Japan, annexed the vast expanses of the Amur and Primorye regions to Russia.
Thanks to the navigator, it became known that Sakhalin is an island that is separated by the navigable Tatar Strait, and the mouth of the Amur is accessible for ships to enter from the sea.
In 1850, Nevelsky’s detachment founded the Nikolaev post, which today is known as Nikolaevsk-on-Amur.
“The discoveries made by Nevelsky are invaluable for Russia,” wrote Count Nikolai Muravyov-Amursky “Many previous expeditions to these regions could have achieved European glory, but none of them achieved domestic benefit, at least to the extent that Nevelskoy accomplished this.”
North of Vilkitsky
The purpose of the hydrographic expedition of the Arctic Ocean in 1910-1915. was the development of the Northern Sea Route. By chance, captain 2nd rank Boris Vilkitsky took over the duties of the voyage leader. Icebreaking steamships "Taimyr" and "Vaigach" went to sea.
Vilkitsky moved through the northern waters from east to west, and during his voyage he was able to compile a true description north coast Eastern Siberia and many islands, received the most important information about currents and climate, and also became the first to make a through voyage from Vladivostok to Arkhangelsk.
The expedition members discovered the Land of Emperor Nicholas I., known today as New Earth- this discovery is considered the last of the significant ones on the globe.
In addition, thanks to Vilkitsky, the islands of Maly Taimyr, Starokadomsky and Zhokhov were put on the map.
At the end of the expedition, the First World War began. The traveler Roald Amundsen, having learned about the success of Vilkitsky’s voyage, could not resist exclaiming to him:
"IN Peaceful time this expedition would excite the whole world!”
Kamchatka campaign of Bering and Chirikov
The second quarter of the 18th century was rich in geographical discoveries. All of them were made during the First and Second Kamchatka expeditions, which immortalized the names of Vitus Bering and Alexei Chirikov.
During the First Kamchatka Campaign, Bering, the leader of the expedition, and his assistant Chirikov explored and mapped Pacific Coast Kamchatka and Northeast Asia. Two peninsulas were discovered - Kamchatsky and Ozerny, Kamchatka Bay, Karaginsky Bay, Cross Bay, Providence Bay and St. Lawrence Island, as well as the strait, which today bears the name of Vitus Bering.
Companions - Bering and Chirikov - also led the Second Kamchatka Expedition. The goal of the campaign was to find a route to North America and explore the Pacific Islands.
In Avachinskaya Bay, the expedition members founded the Petropavlovsk fort - in honor of the ships "St. Peter" and "St. Paul" - which was later renamed Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky.
When the ships set sail to the shores of America, by the will of an evil fate, Bering and Chirikov began to act alone - due to fog, their ships lost each other.
"St. Peter" under Bering reached west coast America.
And on the way back, the expedition members, who had to endure many difficulties, were thrown onto a small island by a storm. This is where Vitus Bering’s life ended, and the island where the expedition members stopped for the winter was named after Bering.
Chirikov’s “Saint Paul” also reached the shores of America, but for him the voyage ended more happily - on the way back he discovered a number of islands of the Aleutian ridge and safely returned to the Peter and Paul prison.
“Unclear Earthlings” by Ivan Moskvitin
Little is known about the life of Ivan Moskvitin, but this man nevertheless went down in history, and the reason for this was the new lands he discovered.
In 1639, Moskvitin, leading a detachment of Cossacks, set sail to the Far East. The main goal of the travelers was to “find new unknown lands” and collect furs and fish. The Cossacks crossed the Aldan, Mayu and Yudoma rivers, discovered the Dzhugdzhur ridge, separating the rivers of the Lena basin from the rivers flowing into the sea, and along the Ulya River they reached the “Lamskoye”, or Sea of Okhotsk. Having explored the coast, the Cossacks discovered the Taui Bay and entered the Sakhalin Bay, rounding the Shantar Islands.
One of the Cossacks reported that the rivers in open lands“sable, there are a lot of all kinds of animals, and fish, and the fish are big, there is no such thing in Siberia... there are so many of them - just throw a net and you can’t drag it out with the fish...”.
Geographic data collected by Ivan Moskvitin formed the basis of the first map of the Far East.
Travel has always attracted people, but before it was not only interesting, but also extremely difficult. The territories were unexplored, and when setting off, everyone became an explorer. Which travelers are the most famous and what exactly did each of them discover?
James Cook
The famous Englishman was one of the best cartographers of the eighteenth century. He was born in the north of England and by the age of thirteen began to work with his father. But the boy turned out to be incapable of trading, so he decided to take up sailing. In those days, all the famous travelers of the world went to distant lands by ship. James became interested in maritime affairs and rose through the ranks so quickly that he was offered to become a captain. He refused and went to the Royal Navy. Already in 1757, the talented Cook began to steer the ship himself. His first achievement was drawing up the river fairway. He discovered his talent as a navigator and cartographer. In the 1760s he explored Newfoundland, which attracted the attention of the Royal Society and the Admiralty. He was entrusted with a journey across the Pacific Ocean, where he reached the shores of New Zealand. In 1770, he accomplished something that other famous travelers had not achieved before - he discovered a new continent. Cook returned to England in 1771 as the famous pioneer of Australia. His last journey was an expedition in search of a passage connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean s. Today, even schoolchildren know the sad fate of Cook, who was killed by cannibal natives.
Christopher Columbus
Famous travelers and their discoveries have always had a significant influence on the course of history, but few turned out to be as famous as this man. Columbus became a national hero of Spain, decisively expanding the map of the country. Christopher was born in 1451. The boy quickly achieved success because he was diligent and studied well. Already at the age of 14 he went to sea. In 1479, he met his love and began life in Portugal, but after the tragic death of his wife, he and his son went to Spain. Having received the support of the Spanish king, he set out on an expedition whose goal was to find a route to Asia. Three ships sailed from the coast of Spain to the west. In October 1492 they reached Bahamas. This is how America was discovered. Christopher mistakenly decided to call the local residents Indians, believing that he had reached India. His report changed history: two new continents and many islands, discovered by Columbus, became the main direction of travel for colonialists in the next few centuries.
Vasco da Gama
The most famous traveler of Portugal was born in the city of Sines on September 29, 1460. From a young age he worked in the navy and became famous as a confident and fearless captain. In 1495, King Manuel came to power in Portugal, who dreamed of developing trade with India. For this, a sea route was needed, in search of which Vasco da Gama had to go. There were more famous sailors and travelers in the country, but for some reason the king chose him. In 1497, four ships sailed south, rounded and sailed to Mozambique. They had to stop there for a month - half the team by that time was suffering from scurvy. After the break, Vasco da Gama reached Calcutta. In India, he established trade relations for three months, and a year later returned to Portugal, where he became a national hero. The discovery of a sea route that made it possible to get to Calcutta by east coast Africa became his main achievement.
Nikolai Miklouho-Maclay
Famous Russian travelers also made many important discoveries. For example, the same Nikolai Mikhlukho-Maclay, born in 1864 in the Novgorod province. He was unable to graduate from St. Petersburg University, as he was expelled for participating in student demonstrations. To continue his education, Nikolai went to Germany, where he met Haeckel, a natural scientist who invited Miklouho-Maclay to his scientific expedition. This is how the world of wanderings opened up for him. His whole life was devoted to travel and scientific work. Nikolai lived in Sicily, Australia, studied New Guinea, implementing a project of the Russian Geographical Society, and visited Indonesia, the Philippines, the Malacca Peninsula and Oceania. In 1886, the natural scientist returned to Russia and proposed to the emperor to found a Russian colony overseas. But the project with New Guinea did not receive royal support, and Miklouho-Maclay became seriously ill and soon died without completing his work on the travel book.
Ferdinand Magellan
Many famous navigators and travelers lived during the era of the Great Magellan is no exception. In 1480 he was born in Portugal, in the city of Sabrosa. Having gone to serve at court (at that time he was only 12 years old), he learned about the confrontation between his native country and Spain, about travel to the East Indies and trade routes. This is how he first became interested in the sea. In 1505, Fernand got on a ship. For seven years after that, he roamed the seas and took part in expeditions to India and Africa. In 1513, Magellan traveled to Morocco, where he was wounded in battle. But this did not curb his thirst for travel - he planned an expedition for spices. The king rejected his request, and Magellan went to Spain, where he received all the necessary support. Thus began his journey around the world. Fernand thought that from the west the route to India might be shorter. He crossed the Atlantic Ocean, reached South America and opened a strait that would later be named after him. became the first European to see the Pacific Ocean. He used it to reach the Philippines and almost reached his goal - the Moluccas, but died in a battle with local tribes, wounded by a poisonous arrow. However, his journey revealed a new ocean to Europe and the understanding that the planet was much larger than scientists had previously thought.
Roald Amundsen
The Norwegian was born at the very end of an era in which many famous travelers became famous. Amundsen became the last of the explorers trying to find undiscovered lands. Since childhood, he was distinguished by perseverance and self-confidence, which allowed him to conquer the South Geographic Pole. The beginning of the journey is connected with 1893, when the boy dropped out of university and got a job as a sailor. In 1896 he became a navigator, and the following year he set off on his first expedition to Antarctica. The ship was lost in the ice, the crew suffered from scurvy, but Amundsen did not give up. He took command, cured the people, remembering his medical training, and led the ship back to Europe. Having become a captain, in 1903 he set out to search for the Northwest Passage off Canada. Famous travelers before him had never done anything like this - in two years the team covered the path from the east of the American continent to its west. Amundsen became famous throughout the world. The next expedition was a two-month trip to the Southern Plus, and the last enterprise was the search for Nobile, during which he went missing.
David Livingston
Many famous travelers are associated with sailing. He became a land explorer, namely the African continent. The famous Scot was born in March 1813. At age 20, he decided to become a missionary, met Robert Moffett and wanted to go to African villages. In 1841, he came to Kuruman, where he taught local residents how to farm, served as a doctor, and taught literacy. There he learned the Bechuana language, which helped him in his travels around Africa. Livingston studied in detail the life and customs of the local residents, wrote several books about them and went on an expedition in search of the sources of the Nile, in which he fell ill and died of a fever.
Amerigo Vespucci
The world's most famous travelers most often came from Spain or Portugal. Amerigo Vespucci was born in Italy and became one of the famous Florentines. He received a good education and trained as a financier. From 1490 he worked in Seville, in the Medici trade mission. His life was connected with sea travel, for example, he sponsored Columbus's second expedition. Christopher inspired him with the idea of trying himself as a traveler, and already in 1499 Vespucci went to Suriname. The purpose of swimming was to study coastline. There he opened a settlement called Venezuela - little Venice. In 1500 he returned home, bringing 200 slaves. In 1501 and 1503 Amerigo repeated his travels, acting not only as a navigator, but also as a cartographer. He discovered the bay of Rio de Janeiro, the name of which he gave himself. From 1505 he served the king of Castile and did not participate in campaigns, only equipped other people’s expeditions.
Francis Drake
Many famous travelers and their discoveries benefited humanity. But among them there are also those who left behind a bad memory, since their names were associated with rather cruel events. The English Protestant, who sailed on a ship from the age of twelve, was no exception. He captured locals in the Caribbean, sold them into slavery to the Spaniards, attacked ships and fought with Catholics. Perhaps no one could match Drake in the number of captured foreign ships. His campaigns were sponsored by the Queen of England. In 1577, he went to South America to defeat the Spanish settlements. During the journey, he found Tierra del Fuego and a strait, which was later named after him. Having sailed around Argentina, Drake plundered the port of Valparaiso and two Spanish ships. Having reached California, he met the natives who presented the British with gifts of tobacco and bird feathers. Drake crossed Indian Ocean and returned to Plymouth, becoming the first British person to circumnavigate the world. He was admitted to the House of Commons and awarded the title of Sir. In 1595 he died on his last trip to the Caribbean.
Afanasy Nikitin
Few famous Russian travelers have achieved the same heights as this native of Tver. Afanasy Nikitin became the first European to visit India. He traveled to the Portuguese colonialists and wrote “Walking across the Three Seas” - a most valuable literary and historical monument. The success of the expedition was ensured by the career of a merchant: Afanasy knew several languages and knew how to negotiate with people. On his journey, he visited Baku, lived in Persia for about two years and reached India by ship. After visiting several cities in an exotic country, he went to Parvat, where he stayed for a year and a half. After the province of Raichur, he headed to Russia, laying a route through the Arabian and Somali peninsulas. However, Afanasy Nikitin never made it home, because he fell ill and died near Smolensk, but his notes were preserved and provided the merchant with world fame.
