Explorers
Those who went first into the unknown.
records written
Contemporary era
Pasang Lhamu Sherpa
December 10, 1961 – April 22, 1993
Nepalese mountain climber (1961–1993)
Early Modern era
Xu Xiake
1586 – March 8, 1641
Chinese geographer and traveller
Early Modern era
Evliya Celebi
March 25, 1611 – 1682
Turkish traveler and writer (1611–1682)
Medieval era
Ahmad ibn Majid
1432 – 1500
Arab navigator and cartographer
Ancient era
Brendan the Navigator
486 CE – 577 CE
Irish monastic saint
Medieval era
Ingolfr Arnarson
848 CE – 910 CE
Viking settler of Iceland
Medieval era
Aud the Deep-Minded
834 CE – 900 CE
9th-century Icelandic settler
Medieval era
Benjamin of Tudela
1130 – 1174
Jewish explorer and writer
Medieval era
Martin Behaim
October 6, 1459 – July 29, 1507
German navigator and geographer to the King of Portugal (1459–1507)
Modern era
John Ball
August 20, 1818 – October 21, 1889
British politician, naturalist and Alpine traveller. (1818-1889)
Medieval era
Egil Skallagrimsson
910 CE – 990 CE
Viking Age poet, warrior and farmer
Medieval era
Freydis Eiriksdottir
b. 980 CE
Daughter of Erik the Red
Medieval era
Gudrid Thorbjarnardottir
c. 1000 – c. 1100
Icelandic explorer
Ancient era
Hanno the Navigator
c. 499 BCE – c. 401 BCE
5th century BC Carthaginian explorer
Modern era
Nain Singh Rawat
October 21, 1830 – February 1, 1882
Pundit who explored the Himalayas for the British
Modern era
Kinthup
1849 – 1915
Indian explorer (1800s)
Early Modern era
Francis Xavier
April 7, 1506 – December 3, 1552
Spanish Catholic saint and missionary (1506–1552)
Medieval era
Xuanzang
602 CE – 664 CE
7th-century Chinese Buddhist monk and scholar (602–664)
Medieval era
Harald Hardrada
1015 – September 25, 1066
King of Norway from 1046 to 1066
Medieval era
Erik the Red
950 CE – 1003
Explorer and founder of the first viking settlement in Greenland
Modern era
Michael Collins (Irish leader)
October 31, 1930 – April 28, 2021
American astronaut (1930–2021)
Modern era
Qian Xuesen
December 11, 1911 – October 31, 2009
Chinese rocket scientist (1911-2009)
Modern era
Ansel Adams
February 20, 1902 – April 22, 1984
American photographer and environmentalist (1902–1984)
Medieval era
Bartolomeu Dias
1450 – May 29, 1500
Portuguese explorer
Medieval era
Pedro Alvares Cabral
1467 – 1520
Portuguese military commander and explorer (c.1467/8 – c.1521)
Medieval era
Juan Sebastian Elcano
November 30, 1476 – August 4, 1526
Castillian Basque sailor, explorer, and circumnavigator with the Magellan Expedition
Medieval era
Vasco Nunez de Balboa
1475 – January 12, 1519
Spanish explorer, governor, and conquistador
Early Modern era
Hernando de Soto
c. 1500 – May 21, 1542
Spanish explorer and conquistador
Early Modern era
Francisco de Coronado
1510 – September 22, 1554
Spanish explorer of the American southwest
Medieval era
Giovanni da Verrazzano
1485 – 1528
Florentine explorer of North America for France
Early Modern era
Abel Tasman
1603 – October 10, 1659
Dutch seafarer, explorer and merchant (1603–1659)
Early Modern era
Vitus Bering
August 5, 1681 – December 8, 1741
Danish-born Russian explorer (1681-1741)
Early Modern era
Mungo Park
September 11, 1771 – 1806
Scottish naturalist and explorer of the African continent
Early Modern era
John Franklin
April 16, 1786 – June 11, 1847
British naval officer and explorer (1786–1847)
Modern era
Isabella Bird
October 15, 1831 – October 8, 1904
British traveler, writer, photographer and naturalist (1831–1904)
Modern era
Gertrude Bell
July 14, 1868 – July 12, 1926
British traveller, writer, mountaineer, politician, archaeologist and spy (1868–1926)
Modern era
Percy Fawcett
August 18, 1867 – 1925
British explorer, anthropologist and archaeologist (1867–1925)
Modern era
Jacques Piccard
July 28, 1922 – November 1, 2008
Swiss oceanographer (1922–2008)
Modern era
Sylvia Earle
b. August 30, 1935
American oceanographer
Modern era
George Mallory
June 18, 1886 – June 9, 1924
English mountaineer (1886-1924)
Modern era
Reinhold Messner
b. September 17, 1944
Italian mountaineer, adventurer and explorer (born 1944)
Modern era
Junko Tabei
September 22, 1939 – October 20, 2016
Japanese mountain climber (1939-2016)
Modern era
Alexandra David-Neel
October 24, 1868 – September 8, 1969
French explorer, spiritualist, Buddhist, Taoist, anarchist and writer
Modern era
Jim Lovell
March 25, 1928 – August 7, 2025
American astronaut (1928–2025)
Modern era
Eugene Cernan
March 14, 1934 – January 16, 2017
NASA astronaut, Naval aviator, aeronautical engineer, electrical engineer, fighter pilot, eleventh human to walk on the Moon (Apollo 10 and Apollo 17)
Modern era
Alexei Leonov
May 30, 1934 – October 11, 2019
Soviet pilot and cosmonaut, first human to conduct a spacewalk (1934-2019)
Modern era
Guion Bluford
b. November 22, 1942
American astronaut (born 1942)
Contemporary era
Chris Hadfield
b. August 29, 1959
Canadian astronaut
Contemporary era
Kalpana Chawla
March 17, 1962 – February 1, 2003
American astronaut
Contemporary era
Christa McAuliffe
September 2, 1948 – January 28, 1986
American educator and astronaut
Contemporary era
Rakesh Sharma
b. January 13, 1949
First Indian astronaut
Contemporary era
Yang Liwei
b. June 21, 1965
Chinese astronaut