Early Modern
Magellan-Elcano Expedition (1519-1522): First Circumnavigation
The ship Victoria returned to Spain with 18 of the roughly 270 men who set out, completing the first circumnavigation of the Earth.
Region
Worldwide
Early Modern
Loaísa Expedition (1525-1536): Spain's Second Moluccas Voyage
The expedition failed to secure the Moluccas; most of its men died, and Spain gave up its claim in the Treaty of Zaragoza of 1529.
Early Modern
Founding of the Jesuits (1540): Ignatius of Loyola's Society
The bull Regimini militantis Ecclesiae created the Society of Jesus, which grew into the largest teaching and missionary order of the Catholic Reformation.
Early Modern
Mercator Projection (1569): Gerardus Mercator's World Map
Mercator published an 18-sheet world map on a new conformal projection that showed lines of constant compass bearing as straight lines; it became the standard for nautical charts and later for web maps.
Early Modern
Francis Drake's Circumnavigation (1577-1580) in the Golden Hind
Drake completed the second circumnavigation of the world and the first by a captain who survived the whole voyage, returning with enormous Spanish treasure and receiving a knighthood.
Early Modern
Gregorian Calendar (1582): Pope Gregory XIII's Reform of Time
Ten days were dropped in October 1582 and a new leap-year rule created the calendar now used as the international civil standard.
Early Modern
Anson's Voyage Round the World (1740-1744): Scurvy and Silver
Only the flagship Centurion completed the circumnavigation, but it captured the Manila galleon Nuestra Señora de Covadonga and returned with a huge treasure.
Early Modern
Seven Years' War (1756-1763): The First Truly Global Conflict
Britain won a vast empire, gaining Canada and dominance in India, while Prussia kept Silesia; the Treaties of Paris and Hubertusburg in February 1763 ended the war.
Early Modern
Bougainville's Voyage Round the World (1766-1769)
La Boudeuse and L'Étoile completed the first French naval circumnavigation, losing few men, and Bougainville's account shaped European images of Tahiti.
Early Modern
James Cook's First Voyage (1768-1771) on HMS Endeavour
Cook observed the 1769 transit of Venus, charted both main islands of New Zealand and the east coast of Australia, and claimed that coast for Britain.
Early Modern
Transit of Venus (1769): Cook's Observation in Tahiti
Observers at dozens of stations timed the transit; combined with 1761 results, it gave a Sun–Earth distance within a few per cent of the modern value.
Early Modern
James Cook's Second Voyage (1772-1775): The Antarctic Circle
Cook circled the globe at high southern latitudes, showing that no habitable southern continent existed, and proved the chronometer could find longitude at sea.