Ferdinand Magellan - Ferdinand Magellan. Caption reads: 'The fearless sailor who linked two oceans'. Painting by Dudley Tennant.  By order of the Spanish King Charles V, Ferdinand Magellan set sail with 5 ships and 236 sailors on a journey to discover a passage westward to the Pacific,  20 September 1519. FM: Portuguese maritime explorer, 1480 – 1521.  (Photo by Culture Club/Getty Images)