1. The first circumnavigator was, as you all know, the Portuguese explorer Fernando Magellan. He managed to convince the young king of Spain - Charles V - to grant him the chance of finding a new way to the Spice Islands. He set sail from Sevilla on September 20, 1519. After he eventually found the long expected southern strait (that would later bear his name), his fleet faced the seas of an ocean discovered only seven years before his expedition, by explorer Nunez de Balboa. Magellan named this ocean "Pacific", meaning... blue raging peaceful endless

2. The second circumnavigation was untertaken by one of the greatest English sea captains ever - Sir Francis Drake. Altough a privateer, the services he brought to the English Crown proved inestimable. The voyage he succesfully led from beginning (1577) to end (1580) involved his remarkable navigating skills as well as his piracy experience. What was the name of the ship which made it all possible? Desire Hugh Gallant Content Golden Hind

3. From the second half of the 17th century up to the first decade of the 18th century the oceans were terrorised by buccaneers and pirates. From their "headquarters" in Tortuga Island the pirates ventured in great expeditions in search for the rich Spanish galleons, part of these voyages ending up as circumnavigations with important geographical discoveries. Moreover, one particular buccaneer even had literary talent as his memoires describing his travels around the world are considered to be one of the best travel writings ever. Who am I talking about? Ambrose Cowley William Dampier Woodes Rogers John Clipperton

4. Captain James Cook's journeys around the world may be the most prolific of all circumnavigations regarding the geographical discoveries. In his three long voyages he charted most of the islands in the Pacific Ocean and he also proved that there was neither a southern continent beneath polar latitudes nor a northern strait between the Pacific and the Atlantic. Altough he criss-crossed the Pacific, he never reached one particular archipelago: Hawaii Friendly Islands New Hebrides Nippon

5. During the 18th and 19th century, the circumnavigations became more frequent. With Krusenstern's expedition, the Russians also engaged in the circumnavigation race. One of the most important Russian voyages explored the remote waters around the Antarctic continent which were not given much interest since Cook's travels. This expedition was commanded by: F. Bellinghausen and M.P.Lazareev F.P. Litke and M.Staniukovic O.E.Kotzebue V.M. Golovnin

6. With most of the geographical discoveries made, the circumnavigations changed their goals towards gathering scientific information. This is the case of Fitzroy's expedition. His ship, the "Beagle" was endowed with remarkable scientific equipment whose value may have been surpassed only by one particular member of the crew: Charles Darwin. Which of the following locations was studied by the young naturalist? all of these Tahiti and New Zeeland Chile The Galapagos Islands

7. Travelling around the world aboard small ships exerted a strong attraction even since the 19th century. The navigator referred to in this question accomplished the first solitary circumnavigation recorded in history: Alain Gerbault Francis Chichester Vito Dumas Joshua Slocum

8. The XXth century brought a new way of circumnavigating the world: flight. In the early days of flight, nobody believed that this would be possible but things seem to evolve so fast... So eventually, the 'ultimate' cirumnavigation became the space flight around Earth in orbit. Who had this privilege for the first time? Gherman Titov Neil Armstrong Alan Shepard Yuri Gagarin

9. Circumnavigating the globe is still a tempting adventure for many people. Some of them are pioneers by experimenting new ways of achieving this, others are just trying to break records. What record do you think the Swiss Betrand Piccard and his British team-mate Brian Jones established ? first hot-air balloon circumnavigation first helicopter circumnavigation first flight around the world first to swim around the world

10. This last question may seem a little bit odd because it's about Jules Verne and he had never gone too far from home. Still, he wrote probably the best book ever about a circumnavigation of the world. How long did it take his famous character, Phileas Fogg to travel around the world? 100 days one year 5 months 80 days