Today in History—October 21: Magellan Finds a Route to the Pacific

Ferdinand Magellan was not the first European to sight the Pacific Ocean; he wasn’t the first to name it either, but his was the name that stuck. And on this day he became the first European sailor to find a sea route to the Pacific—the strait that now bears his name.

When Magellan, a Portuguese navigator who had shifted his allegiance to Spain, set sail with his fleet from Spain in September 1519, things were complicated. Attempts had been made by both the vengeful Portuguese crown and envious Spanish courtiers to scuttle the expedition. Managing conflicts between his Spanish and Portuguese officers proved an arduous task for Magellan. To add to his woes, the five ships—the Trinidad, the San Antonio, the Concepción, the Victoria, and the Santiago—were not in top condition.

As the fleet neared Argentina, his Spanish captains mutinied. Magellan executed one of them and abandoned another.

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By the time he reached the southern tip of what is now South America, the Santiago had been wrecked and the San Antonio had deserted and turned back. But fueled by his goal to find a westward path to the Spice Islands (now part of Indonesia) and claim them for Spain, Magellan drove what remained of the expedition on.

On this day in 1520, the fleet finally found the path to the Pacific—a narrow channel between the mainland tip of South America and Tierra del Fuego island, now known as the Strait of Magellan. It would be another 38 tortuous days of navigating small islands and foggy weather through a 350-mile–long channel before they reached the Pacific.

So when he finally sighted an ocean again, Magellan wept with joy. Over the next 98 days the fleet sailed through mostly calm waters until they made landfall, prompting Magellan to call the ocean “Pacific,” from the Latin for “peaceful.” (Never mind that his crew was chewing leather to stay alive by then.)

Magellan didn’t quite make it to the Pacific on this day, but he did discover a gateway to travel across the world.