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Ferdinand MagellanPlease don’t touch that, don’t touch that, don’t touch that! It brings me to life! Well, I don’t mind coming back to life after I was killed, but moving onto a happier subject. My name is Ferdinand Magellan as I hope you well know! I was born in northern Portugal in the year of 1480. I’m famous for my battles in Portugal’s army and for becoming an officer in the Portuguese army. I’m also famous for finding the western passage to the Philippines and the passage through South America and guess what? I named the Pacific Ocean. Pacific stands for peace in Spanish and it was named after peace but really it wasn’t peaceful. My ship also had fully sailed around the world and I had sailed around the world. My journey was a complete success! My childhood started in 1480 in the country of Portugal. A long ten years went by and my parents passed away but I still went to school at a monastery and became a page to Queen Leonor. I then soon became a squire and in court I heard about the journeys of Christopher Columbus and Vasco da Gama. Those are the journeys that inspired me. I then fell in love with the sea. I started to sail in 1505 and became a part of Portugal’s army. I was an honored officer partly because I was terribly wounded and I had to limp the rest of my life and did I forget to mention my Dad’s old boss paid for all my education. My brother in law also became King of Portugal! I kept asking and asking if I could find the western passage to the Spice Islands! “Think of the advantage you’ll have against Spain,” I told the king but he refused. I kept asking and asking if I could try to find the western passage to the Spice Islands. But the king said no, no, no. I had asked several times before and all I got were no, no, AND no. All those years in battle and getting wounded three times and all I get is the answer no?! The king then dismissed me from his service and I swore revenge on the country that had betrayed me and then moved to Spain! I got married to a Spanish officer’s daughter named Barbossa. I then went and asked the king of Spain if he would sponsor the trip. After I explained it he said YES!! I set sail September 20, 1517. The king supplied five ships and 270 men. It was a tough journey across the Atlantic Ocean. But after a terribly long journey I made it across! We stopped at the Canary Islands while crossing. We then sailed to the Bay of Rio de Janeiro. I got there on December 15, 1519. I then went to the bay of San Julian Patagonia, which I named after the seals and penguins there. We then sailed the coast and my men got terribly sick. We sailed so long and everyone was just about ready to go back to Spain when we found a strait. A strait that went through South America! When we went a mutiny broke out on two of my ships and those two ships attacked the largest ship and won. So immediately I acted and attacked the largest of the ships called the Victoria. I then sailed to Christopher Columbus’ unknown Ocean and when we got there the Ocean was so peaceful, I named it the Pacific Ocean. In Spanish Pacific means Peace. I was so wrong about the name because the name wasn’t exactly right! The storms were the worst and the really bad part is that the Ocean never ended! We sailed on for months and soon it felt like a year. Finally after months of sailing without any sight of land I spotted a small island. I got there and killed the natives and took their supplies such as water, meat, and food that didn’t have bugs in it. I then sailed to the Philippines and made friends with the people of Guam. I made their religion become Christianity. I then decided to prove my friendship by attacking their rivals. When I got to the enemies island they had 1,000 men and I had 60 men. I called the attack anyway. We attacked on April 17, 1521. During the battle we lost a lot of men and in the end we had to retreat. When retreating I died saving my men. My crew suffered a lot but they still sailed back to Spain and announced that they had done what was said couldn’t be done. So in the end my journey was a complete success. My later life was spent fighting to show friendship to the people of Guam and while attacking their enemies I had to retreat and while retreating I was killed. Oh and the best part of all is that I became famous for my journey around the world. Even though I died on April 27, 1521, I still was famous and I fulfilled my promise to avenge Portugal. Oh, yeah! I forgot to tell you that I left with 270 men and five ships and even though I didn’t make it back to Europe, my crew came back with 18 men and only one ship! Even so, I am still famous and my journey was a complete success! |
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47 Whiting Lane |
