Famous Explorers Recall
Instructions: How many of history's greatest explorers can you remember?
- 1.
Who led the first expedition to successfully circumnavigate the globe?
AFrancis DrakeBFerdinand MagellanCVasco da GamaDChristopher Columbus - 2.
Which explorer is credited with 'discovering' the Americas in 1492?
ALeif EriksonBAmerigo VespucciCChristopher ColumbusDJohn Cabot - 3.
Which Portuguese explorer was the first European to reach India by sea?
AVasco da GamaBPedro Alvares CabralCPrince Henry the NavigatorDBartolomeu Dias - 4.
Who led the Lewis and Clark Expedition across North America?
AMeriwether Lewis and William ClarkBJohn Frémont and Kit CarsonCZebulon Pike and Stephen LongDDaniel Boone and Davy Crockett - 5.
Which explorer first reached the South Pole in December 1911?
ADouglas MawsonBRoald AmundsenCErnest ShackletonDRobert Falcon Scott - 6.
Which Viking explorer is believed to have reached North America around 1000 AD?
AErik the RedBLeif EriksonCRagnar LothbrokDBjorn Ironside - 7.
Which Spanish conquistador conquered the Aztec Empire?
AJuan Ponce de LeónBFrancisco PizarroCHernando de SotoDHernán Cortés - 8.
Which explorer mapped much of the African interior and was found by journalist Henry Morton Stanley?
ARichard BurtonBMungo ParkCJohn Hanning SpekeDDavid Livingstone - 9.
Which Spanish conquistador conquered the Inca Empire in Peru?
AVasco Núñez de BalboaBHernán CortésCFrancisco PizarroDDiego de Almagro - 10.
Which English explorer claimed the east coast of Australia for Britain in 1770?
AHenry HudsonBWalter RaleighCFrancis DrakeDJames Cook - 11.
Which explorer is the Americas named after?
AChristopher ColumbusBGiovanni da VerrazzanoCJohn CabotDAmerigo Vespucci - 12.
Which explorer led a famous Antarctic expedition on the ship Endurance?
ADouglas MawsonBErnest ShackletonCRobert ScottDRoald Amundsen - 13.
Which Portuguese prince sponsored many voyages of exploration down the African coast?
AAfonso de AlbuquerqueBPrince Henry the NavigatorCPrince JohnDKing Manuel I - 14.
Who was the first European to reach the Pacific Ocean from the Americas?
AFrancisco PizarroBFerdinand MagellanCVasco Núñez de BalboaDHernán Cortés - 15.
Which explorer sailed for England and explored the northeastern coast of North America in 1497?
AWalter RaleighBHenry HudsonCJohn CabotDMartin Frobisher
Answer Key
Ferdinand Magellan led the first expedition to circumnavigate the globe starting in 1519. Though he died in the Philippines, his crew completed the journey in 1522.
Christopher Columbus sailed from Spain and reached the Bahamas on October 12, 1492, opening the Americas to European exploration.
Vasco da Gama reached Calicut, India in 1498, establishing a sea route from Europe to Asia around the Cape of Good Hope.
Meriwether Lewis and William Clark led the Corps of Discovery expedition (1804-1806) to explore the western territories of the United States.
Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen and his team reached the South Pole on December 14, 1911, beating Robert Scott's British expedition by about five weeks.
Leif Erikson is believed to have reached North America (Vinland) around 1000 AD, nearly 500 years before Columbus.
Hernán Cortés conquered the Aztec Empire between 1519 and 1521, capturing the capital Tenochtitlan and overthrowing Emperor Montezuma.
Scottish explorer David Livingstone explored Africa's interior for decades. Stanley found him in 1871 with the famous greeting, 'Dr. Livingstone, I presume?'
Francisco Pizarro conquered the Inca Empire in 1532-1533, capturing Emperor Atahualpa and claiming Peru for Spain.
Captain James Cook charted the east coast of Australia during his first voyage and claimed it for Great Britain, naming it New South Wales.
The Americas were named after Italian explorer Amerigo Vespucci, who recognized that the lands Columbus found were a separate continent, not Asia.
Ernest Shackleton's Endurance became trapped in Antarctic pack ice in 1915, leading to one of the greatest survival stories in exploration history.
Prince Henry the Navigator (1394-1460) sponsored numerous exploratory voyages along the African coast, ushering in the Age of Exploration.
Vasco Núñez de Balboa crossed the Isthmus of Panama and became the first European to see the Pacific Ocean from the Americas in 1513.
John Cabot (Giovanni Caboto), an Italian sailing for England, reached the coast of North America in 1497, giving England a claim to the New World.