Put your knowledge to the test with this famous explorers quiz and see how many legendary voyages and discoveries you can correctly match to their explorer.
Who is credited with leading the first European expedition to reach the Americas in 1492? Choices: Vasco da Gama, Christopher Columbus, Amerigo Vespucci, Ferdinand Magellan
Which explorer led the first expedition to circumnavigate the globe, though he died partway through the voyage? Choices: Francis Drake, James Cook, Vasco da Gama, Ferdinand Magellan
Which Portuguese explorer was the first European to sail around the southern tip of Africa? Choices: Bartolomeu Dias, Vasco da Gama, Prince Henry, Ferdinand Magellan
Which explorer is credited with being the first European to see the Pacific Ocean from the Americas? Choices: Hernando Cortes, Francisco Pizarro, Vasco Nunez de Balboa, Hernando de Soto
Which English explorer and privateer was the first Englishman to circumnavigate the globe? Choices: Walter Raleigh, John Cabot, Henry Hudson, Francis Drake
Which Norwegian explorer led the first expedition to reach the South Pole? Choices: Robert Falcon Scott, Roald Amundsen, Ernest Shackleton, Fridtjof Nansen
Which Italian explorer, sailing for France, explored the eastern coast of North America in the early 1500s? Choices: Christopher Columbus, Jacques Cartier, Giovanni da Verrazzano, Amerigo Vespucci
Which explorer's voyages gave the Americas their name, after a mapmaker used his first name? Choices: Amerigo Vespucci, Christopher Columbus, Vasco da Gama, Ferdinand Magellan
Which British explorer led three major voyages of exploration across the Pacific Ocean in the 18th century? Choices: Francis Drake, James Cook, Henry Hudson, William Dampier
Which explorer is credited with discovering the Mississippi River for Europeans? Choices: Francisco Pizarro, Hernando Cortes, Juan Ponce de Leon, Hernando de Soto
Which Chinese admiral led large fleets on voyages of exploration in the early 1400s? Choices: Marco Polo, Kublai Khan, Zheng He, Ibn Battuta
Which Viking explorer is believed to have been the first European to reach North America, centuries before Columbus? Choices: Leif Erikson, Erik the Red, Bjarni Herjolfsson, Freydis Eiriksdottir
Which French explorer founded Quebec City and extensively explored the Saint Lawrence River? Choices: Jacques Cartier, Robert de La Salle, Henry Hudson, Samuel de Champlain
Which Portuguese explorer led the first European expedition to reach India by sailing around Africa? Choices: Bartolomeu Dias, Vasco da Gama, Ferdinand Magellan, Prince Henry
Which Russian explorer led expeditions that mapped the strait separating Asia and North America, later named after him? Choices: James Cook, Semyon Dezhnev, Vitus Bering, Alexander Mackenzie