Memorize these and you could recognize 40.9% of all Explorers clues.
| # | Answer | Appearances | Sample Clue |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Christopher Columbus | 21 | He died in Spain May 20, 1506, still believing he had reached the East Indies |
| 2 | Vitus Bering | 15 | Between 1727 & 1729, he proved Asia & North America were separated by water |
| 3 | Vasco da Gama | 14 | 9 years after B. Dias rounded Africa's tip, this explorer sailed on to open sea route to India |
| 4 | Roald Amundsen | 13 | In 1906 this Norwegian reached Nome, completing a voyage through the Northwest Passage |
| 5 | Henry Hudson | 12 | Ships used by this explorer included the Hopewell, the Discovery & the Half Moon |
| 6 | Ponce de Leon | 11 | Hit by an Indian arrow in Florida in 1521, he made it back to Havana but died of his wounds there |
| 7 | Stanley | 10 | He led the expedition that rescued Emin Pasha, as well as the one that found Livingstone |
| 8 | Marco Polo | 10 | In 1275 this Venetian & his father & uncle reached Shang-tu, the summer capital of Kublai Khan |
| 9 | Sir Edmund Hillary | 10 | He published the aptly titled memoir "High Adventure" in 1955 |
| 10 | Ferdinand Magellan | 10 | In 1520, he found the strait at 52 deg. 30' south that now bears his name |
| 11 | Captain Cook | 10 | Explorer who claimed Australia's east coast for Britain, naming it New South Wales |
| 12 | Dr. Livingstone | 9 | After studying medicine in the 1830s, this explorer & missionary hoped to be sent to China but ended up in Africa instead |
| 13 | John Cabot | 9 | In 1495 Henry VII gave this man then known as Giovanni (later John) letters of patent to explore & he reached N. America |
| 14 | Sir Francis Drake | 9 | One of Magellan's ships was first to circumnavigate the Earth; this Englishman's was second |
| 15 | Brazil | 8 | Using prevailing winds, da Gama found faster route around Africa by 1st sailing S.W. to this country |
| 16 | Pizarro | 8 | With about 180 men & 3 ships, he set out for Peru from Central America in January 1531 |
| 17 | Hernando de Soto | 8 | He picked up a reported equivalent of $500,000 w/Pizarro in Peru before discovering the Mississippi |
| 18 | Antarctica | 7 | Both the 1st sighting & the establishment of this land as a continent are credited to Americans |
| 19 | the Northwest Passage | 7 | Between 1850 & '54 Robert McClure became the first to traverse this route, doing the last part by sled |
| 20 | La Salle | 7 | Rene-Robert Cavelier, who sailed down the Mississippi to its mouth, took this title, after his family manor |
| 21 | Balboa | 7 | Gone broke, he had himself put in a cask addressed to Panama, which he later crossed |
| 22 | the North Pole | 7 | Not quite Robert Peary, Edward Parry did set a record for this in 1827, reaching over 82 degrees latitude |
| 23 | Samuel de Champlain | 7 | This founder of Quebec also discovered the large lake named for him |
| 24 | Verrazano | 6 | This Italian explorer for whom longest U.S. suspension bridge is named, was also a pirate |
| 25 | Timbuktu | 6 | In 1826, Alexander Gordon Laing became 1st European to see this "faraway" African city |
| 26 | Lewis & Clark | 6 | Meriwether & William |
| 27 | the Cape of Good Hope | 6 | Bartolomeu Diaz made the encyclopedias by rounding this cape in 1488 |
| 28 | Sir Richard Burton | 6 | He discovered Lake Tanganyika with John Speke, but translated "The Arabian Nights" by himself |
| 29 | Abel Tasman | 6 | In January 1643 this Dutchman left New Zealand & a month later became the first European to reach Fiji |
| 30 | Mecca | 5 | Disguised as an Afghani, Sir Richard Burton visited this Muslim holy city in 1853 |
| 31 | Leif Erikson | 5 | Due to abundance of grapes, this 10th c. discoverer called America "Vineland the Good" |
| 32 | Verrazzano | 5 | N.Y. observes a holiday honoring the 1524 discovery of N.Y. Harbor by this Italian navigator |
| 33 | the South Pole | 4 | Britain's Robert Scott & Norway's Roald Amundsen raced to be 1st to arrive there |
| 34 | the Mississippi | 4 | Looking for gold in 1541 De Soto led the first European expedition to reach this river |
| 35 | Sir Walter Raleigh | 4 | Though his attempts to colonize Virginia failed, he was the one who named it that |
| 36 | Sebastian Cabot | 4 | In 1508, he searched for the Northwest Passage, not Cissy, Buffy & Jody |
| 37 | Matthew Henson | 4 | His book "A Negro Explorer at the North Pole" was first published in 1912 |
| 38 | Leif Ericson | 4 | In 1005 this Norseman's brother Thorvald was killed by Indians, perhaps in what is now Labrador |
| 39 | Greenland | 4 | Eric the Red lied, calling his discovery this to attract settlers |
| 40 | Easter Island | 4 | On Sunday, April 5, 1722, Dutch explorer Jakob Roggeveen became the 1st European to reach this island |
| 41 | the Nile | 4 | From 1856-62, Sir Richard Burton, John Speke, & James Grant "competed" in finding the source of this |
| 42 | Robert Falcon Scott | 4 | On March 18, 1912 he wrote in his diary, "My right foot has gone, nearly all the toes..." |
| 43 | Peary | 4 | This explorer's wife Josephine wrote the book "Snow Baby" about giving birth to their daughter in Greenland |
| 44 | Cortes | 4 | When he reached Mexico in 1519, many believed he was the god Quetzalcoatl |
| 45 | Coronado | 4 | While searching for the 7 Cities of Cibola in 1540, this conquistador's party reached the Grand Canyon |
| 46 | Thor Heyerdahl | 4 | This famous explorer was born in Larvik, Norway October 6, 1914 |
| 47 | the Santa Maria | 4 | Of Columbus' 3 ships on his 1st voyage, the one that never returned to Spain |
| 48 | Captain James Cook | 4 | William Bligh sailed with this explorer on his second voyage around the world |
| 49 | Robert Scott | 3 | The last entry in this Briton's diary, dated March 29, 1912, ended, "For God's sake look after our people" |