Who That It's Namin' Trivia Quiz

Answer:

Most of these explorers were active between the 16th and 18th centuries. Amerigo Vespucci (1454-1512) was a contemporary of Christopher Columbus and is most associated with Brazil, which he saw as part of a fourth continent he called New World. A German mapmaker is credited with the earliest use of the name America, using a Latinised version of Vespucci's name.

René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle (1643-1687), was a French explorer in North America and fur trader. He is best known for his 1682 expedition during which he canoed the lower reaches of the Mississippi River. He claimed the river basin for France. The name chosen lives on as the US state of Louisiana. He also attempted to establish a French colony at the mouth of the Mississippi, but ended up 400 miles west in Texas in 1685. He was assassinated in 1687 by one of his men, and the Texan colony failed.

Known for being the first European to describe and map the Gulf of St Lawrence and the shores of the St Lawrence River, Frenchman Jacques Cartier (1491-1557) also named the area as the country of Canadas. This was based on the Huron-Iroquois word 'kanata' (meaning village). He also claimed this land for France. The area covered by the name was initially the Iroquoian village of Stadacona, the surrounding area, and the river. His voyages helped support France's claim to the territory. He had, in fact, been commissioned to look for a western passage to the East Indies, and thought he had achieved this.

Samuel de Champlain's arrival the next century was in part to establish French settlements in Canada. Quebec was his main achievement in this regard. He sought alliances with some of the local First Nation tribes, and in 1609 was asked to support a war against the Iroquois. This took him south along the Richelieu River and led him to map Lake Champlain, which now bears his name. A battle took place where his arquebus (a firearm) proved decisive. The canal connecting the Lake to the Hudson River also commemorates his work.

Although Danish-born, Vitus Bering (1681-1741) was a Russian cartographer, explorer, and navy officer. He led two Russian expeditions in the 18th century, exploring the northeast coast of Asia as well as the western coast of North America. The Bering Strait, the Bering Sea, Bering Island, the prehistoric Bering Land Bridge, the Bering Glacier, and Vitus Lake (the last two being in Alaska) were all named after him. He was not the first to discover the strait, which was Semyon Dezhnev some 80 years earlier, and he died on the island which was later named after him.

The Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen (1872-1928) is probably best known as the first to reach the South Pole in Antarctica. He was also the first to successfully navigate Canada's Northwest Passage between the Atlantic and the Pacific, a journey which took him over two years. This is probably his strongest connection to the continent. There are around a dozen Arctic and Antarctic geographic features named after him. He died during a rescue mission in the Arctic.

George Vancouver (1757-1798), a Royal Navy officer, is best known for leading the four-and-a-half-year Vancouver expedition which circumnavigated the globe and charted the northwestern Pacific coastal regions of North America, amongst other things. He was also part of James Cook's second and third exploration voyages. His name is used for the island, the city, a river, and a couple of mountains (one in New Zealand).

Vancouver was involved in the aftermath of the Nookta Crisis of 1789, a dispute between Spain and Britain centred on the Spanish outpost of Santa Cruz de Nuca on what became known as Vancouver Island. The outpost was part of an attempt by the Spanish to secure the west coast of the continent for the Spanish crown. It nearly resulted in war between the two countries and was resolved by three Nookta Conventions and the permanent abandonment of the Spanish settlement.

The navigator and explorer William Baffin (c. 1584-1622) is best known for trying to find the Northwest Passage which Amundsen was to succeed on nearly three centuries later. Baffin started off trying to find any survivors of Danish-Norse settlements on Greenland, then was whaling off Spitzbergen for the Muscovy Company. He then joined a London company that was set up to find the Northwest Passage in 1616. He managed 480 km (300 mi) further north than his predecessor John Davis, and two centuries lapsed before further attempts were made. Baffin Island and Baffin Bay were named after him.

Alexander Mackenzie (1764-1820) was a leading member of the North West Company, a competitor to the Hudson's Bay Company and the East India Company. His explorations were motivated by a desire to extend the Company's operations into western Canada, and with a view to selling furs into China. He led two expeditions and accomplished the first European crossing of North America north of Mexico in 1793. The Mackenzie River bears his name, as does Mount Sir Alexander (formerly Mount Kitchi) in British Columbia. He passed within 80 km (50 mi) of the mountain during his crossing, but probably didn't see it despite it being an ultra-prominent peak (meaning a mountain summit with a topographical prominence of 1,500 m (4,900 ft) or more).

The sea explorer and navigator Henry Hudson (c.1565-c.1611) was another to seek out the Northwest Passage. He was employed by the Muscovy Company, which also employed William Baffin at one time, and led four expeditions to find the passage. The third was intended to find an eastern route through the Arctic Ocean north of Russia, however, when blocked by ice, he turned around and tried the western route instead. In his fourth expedition (1610-11) he found Hudson Bay and mapped it. The ship was trapped in ice in November 1610, and the crew wintered ashore. When the ice cleared, Hudson wished to continue, however, most of the crew did not. They mutinied. Only a mutineer's tale survives and Hudson was never seen again.