1. Ferdinand Magellan By: Stephanie and Michael

3. Magellan was born around 1480 at Sabrosa, near Vila Real, in the province of Trás-os-Montes, in northern Portugal.

4. Name in Portuguese was Fernão de Magalhães.

5. His parents were members of the nobility and they were wealthy and powerful.

6. Magellan became a page to Queen Leonor after his parents' untimely deaths in 1490.

7. Magellan named the Pacific Ocean (the name means that it is a calm, peaceful ocean)

9. On September 20, 1519 sailed from Spain with crew of 240 men in 5 ships.

10. Sailed across the Atlantic ocean to the coast of Brazil.

11. Found a passage between Atlantic and Pacific Oceans in South America on October 1520, and now it named The Strait of Magellan.

12. On February, 1521 - Magellan reached equator.

13. On 16 March Magellan reached the Philippines, to be the first Spaniards to reach that archipelago.

14. During the battle against aborigines in Philippines, Magellan was shot by a poisonous arrow and killed in his final fight.

16. The Spanish soon realized that the lands of the Americas were not a part of Asia, but a new continent.

17. It became urgent for Spain to find a new commercial route to Asia since it would open the “Spice Route" without damaging relations with the neighboring Portuguese.

19. Sailed for many days in open ocean without seeing any land.

20. Their food gave out and water supply became contaminated, crew was suffering from hunger and diseases. They ate rats, leather clothing and sawdust to avoid starvations therefore became sick with scurvy.

21. Magellan lost ships on his way - during the winter a storm destroyed one of Magellan's ships and another ship was abandoned in battles later.

23. Proved that it was possible to reach the Spice Islands by sailing westward.

24. Also proved that these islands belonged to Spain not Portugal.

26. Books: Websites: www.britannica.comwww.wikipedia.com http://geography.about.com Encyclopedias: www.worldbookonline.com Bibliography