Explorers

66 people, in date order

• Pytheas c. 350–c. 285 BCE, explorer
• Zhang Qian c. 195–114 BCE, diplomat and explorer
• Faxian 337–c. 422, pilgrim
• Xuanzang c. 602–664, pilgrim
• Erik the Red c. 950–c. 1003, explorer
• Leif Erikson c. 970–c. 1020, explorer
• Marco Polo 1254–1324, explorer
• Ibn Battuta 1304–c. 1369, explorer
• Zheng He 1371–1433, admiral
• Henry the Navigator 1394–1460, prince
• Bartolomeu Dias c. 1450–1500, explorer
• John Cabot c. 1450–c. 1500, explorer
• Christopher Columbus c. 1451–1506, explorer
• Amerigo Vespucci 1454–1512, explorer
• Vasco da Gama c. 1460–1524, explorer
• Piri Reis c. 1465–1553, admiral and cartographer
• Pedro Álvares Cabral c. 1467–c. 1520, explorer
• Juan Ponce de León 1474–1521, explorer
• Vasco Núñez de Balboa c. 1475–1519, explorer
• Francisco Pizarro c. 1478–1541, conquistador
• Ferdinand Magellan c. 1480–1521, explorer
• Hernán Cortés 1485–1547, conquistador
• Juan Sebastián Elcano c. 1486–1526, explorer
• Jacques Cartier 1491–1557, explorer
• Hernando de Soto c. 1500–1542, conquistador
• Francis Drake c. 1540–1596, explorer
• Walter Raleigh c. 1552–1618, explorer
• Henry Hudson c. 1565–1611, explorer
• Samuel de Champlain c. 1567–1635, explorer
• Abel Tasman 1603–1659, explorer
• Evliya Çelebi 1611–c. 1682, traveler
• Vitus Bering 1681–1741, explorer
• James Cook 1728–1779, explorer
• Jean-François de La Pérouse 1741–c. 1788, explorer
• Alexander von Humboldt 1769–1859, naturalist and explorer
• William Clark 1770–1838, explorer
• Meriwether Lewis 1774–1809, explorer
• John Franklin 1786–1847, explorer
• Sacagawea c. 1788–c. 1812, guide
• David Livingstone 1813–1873, explorer
• Richard Francis Burton 1821–1890, explorer
• Isabella Bird 1831–1904, explorer
• Henry Morton Stanley 1841–1904, explorer
• Robert Peary 1856–1920, explorer
• Fridtjof Nansen 1861–1930, explorer
• Nellie Bly 1864–1922, journalist and traveler
• Matthew Henson 1866–1955, explorer
• Robert Falcon Scott 1868–1912, explorer
• Roald Amundsen 1872–1928, explorer
• Ernest Shackleton 1874–1922, explorer
• Howard Carter 1874–1939, archaeologist
• Hiram Bingham III 1875–1956, explorer
• Amelia Earhart 1897–1937, aviator
• Charles Lindbergh 1902–1974, aviator
• Jacques Cousteau 1910–1997, oceanographer
• Thor Heyerdahl 1914–2002, explorer
• Edmund Hillary 1919–2008, mountaineer
• Buzz Aldrin 1930–, astronaut
• Neil Armstrong 1930–2012, astronaut
• Yuri Gagarin 1934–1968, cosmonaut
• Sylvia Earle 1935–, oceanographer
• Valentina Tereshkova 1937–, cosmonaut
• Robert Ballard 1942–, oceanographer
• Reinhold Messner 1944–, mountaineer
• Sally Ride 1951–2012, astronaut
• James Cameron 1954–, filmmaker and deep-sea explorer