Magellan, the explorer, was born in northern Portugal in this year. The exact location is known. His father was Ruy de Magalhaes, and his mother was Alda de Mezquita. His parents may have held some position of importance and so Ferdinard attended the Court at Lisbon as a page. ¹

Ferdinand Magellan set sail from Seville with five ships in search of a passageway to the south of South America in order to reach the Pacific Ocean and the Far East. The five ships were the Trinidad, the San Antonio, the Conception, the Victoria and the Santiago. The flagship Trinidad was commanded by Magellan. Juan de Catagena commanded the San Antonio; Gaspar de Quesada commanded the Conception; Luis de Mendoza was captain of the Victoria and the Santiago was captained by Juan Serrano.

After leaving Seville Magellan's fleet anchored in the estuary of the Guadalquivir river south Seville. Here they took on the supplies they needed for the long voyage ahead. At the end of the month they set sail for Teneriffe. ¹

The five ships commanded by Magellan reach Teneriffe. On October 3rd, the fleet set sail for South America.

On the 13th of December, Magellan's fleet arrived at Brazil. The the location they anchored at may have been the bay of Rio de Janeiro, near the location of the present capital of Brazil.

Magellan's fleet of ships sailed down the east coast of South America reaching Rio de la Plata in late January and then Port St Julian in Argentina towards the end of March. It was here that Magellan decided to spend the Winter.

Magellan observed a solar eclipse while anchored off the east coast of current-day Argentina.

After spending the winter in the harbour of St. Julian Megellan and his ships continued on their voyage south. Shortly afterwards a storm drove the Santiago onto the shore and the ship was lost. The crew and supplies on board the ship were saved though.

Magellan's fleet of four ships began their passage along what is now known as the Strait of Magellan.

Ferdinand Magellan found a route from the Altantic Ocean through to the Pacific via a passage that is now called the Strait of Magellan. Magellan named the sea Mar Pacifico, or Peaceful Sea because of its calmness.

Unlike the inhabitants of Zebu (Cebu in the Philippines) who had accepted Magellan's offer to ally themselves with the King of Spain, the inhabitants of the nearby island of Mactan did not. The King of Mactan challenged Magellan and a fight ensued. In the fighting Magellan was killed.