Today in History

April 27, 1521

The Death of Magellan

Fernao de Magalhaes, better known in English as Ferdinand Magellan, convinced the Spanish King to finance the quest for a western route to the Indonesian Islands. On September 20, 1519, Magellan set sail. It took him over a year of sailing the Atlantic and then southward along the coast of South America before he came upon the straights that now bear his name at the tip of the continent. They sailed for five months through the Pacific, so-named by his crew because during that time they did not encounter a single storm. Magellan's ship landed in the Philippines in March of 1521. They explored the islands for more than a month before running into a skirmish with the natives there, during which Magellan was killed in battle at age 41. His crew sailed on to Spain, completing the first circumnavigation of the planet, and proving at the same time that the world was round.

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