Ferdinand Magellan found the Pacific
Ferdinand Magellan sailed through the Strait of Magellan off South America, and thus became the first European to see the Pacific. He found the entrance on October 21, but the passage was a maze of bays, inlets and fjords. At night, when the ships lay at anchor, they could see flickering lights from the land, and the land was called Tierra del Fuego. The lights came from the fires of the natives. It took 38 days to get through the strait. Today this dangerous strait is called Strait of Magellan.

When they had gone through the exhausting labyrinth, a sea opened before them. It was good weather, the sea lay still and shiny, and they called it therefore the Pacific. But only three of the expedition's four remaining ships continued the journey. The best ship in the fleet, that had been sent to investigate a fjord, never came back. The ship had turned and set sail towards Spain. Ferdinand Magellan sailed through the Strait of Magellan off South America, and thus became the first European to see the Pacific. He found the entrance on October 21, but the passage was a maze of bays, inlets and fjords. At night, when the ships lay at anchor, they could see flickering lights from the land, and the land was called Tierra del Fuego. The lights came from the fires of the natives. It took 38 days to get through the strait. Today this dangerous strait is called Strait of Magellan.

When they had gone through the exhausting labyrinth, a sea opened before them. It was good weather, the sea lay still and shiny, and they called it therefore the Pacific. But only three of the expedition's four remaining ships continued the journey. The best ship in the fleet, that had been sent to investigate a fjord, never came back. The ship had turned and set sail towards Spain.