B

George Back (England, 1796-1878)

1819-1822: With Richardson and Franklin, explores the Canadian Arctic coast from the mouth of the Coppermine to Bathurst Inlet. - timeline

1825-1827: With Richardson and Franklin, follows the Canadian coast from the mouth of the Mackenzie to Cape Beechey. - timeline

1833-1835: Discovers the Great Fish River (Back), and follows it to the sea. - timeline

William Baffin (England, 1584-1622)

1615: With Bylot, explores the northern Hudson Bay, and concludes that it does not provide a northwest passage.

1616: With Bylot, maps Davis Strait and Baffin Bay looking for the northwest passage.

Sir Samuel White Baker (England, 1821-1893)

1861-1864: With his wife, Florence Baker, travels up the Nile and discovers Lake Albert.

1869-1873: Governor of Sudan for the khedive of Egypt. Leads a military campaign against slave traders on the upper Nile.

Seekers of the Source

Samuel White Baker: The Nile tributaries of Abyssinia, and the sword hunters of the Hamran arabs

Samuel White Baker: Eight Years' Wanderings In Ceylon

Vasco Nuñez de Balboa (Spain, 1475?-1519)

1510: Establishes the colony of Darién and becomes its first governor.

1513: Crosses the isthmus of Panama and discovers the Pacific.

Alfonso Gonçalves Baldaya (Portugal)

1435: With Eannes follows the African west coast to 320 km south of Cape Bojador

1436: Reaches Cape Blanco

The African coast

Sir Joseph Banks (England, 1743-1820)

1768-1771: Main naturalist on Cook's first voyage.

1788: Founder of the African Society, which would organize several expeditions to Africa, especially to the Niger.

Aleksandr Baranov (Russia, 1747-1819)

Manager of the Russian colony in Alaska from 1788 till 1817, and de facto governor from 1799 onwards.

1791: Explores the Aleutians.

1792: Moves the Russian headquarters on Kodiak island to a better position, at present-day Kodiak.

1793,1795: Explores the coast of Alaska

1799: Founds New Archangel (Sitka), from then on the capital of Russian America.

1804: Re-founds Sitka that had been deserted after Indian attacks.

1812: Establishes Fort Russ (Fort Ross) in California, extending the Russian territory southward.

1815: Builds a fort on Kauai, Hawaii.

The History of Castle Hill (Sitka)

Willem Barentsz (Netherlands, 1550?-1597)

1594: Follows the east coast of Nova Zembla, looking for the northeast passage.

1595: Makes another failed attempt to sail the northeast passage.

1596-1597: With van Heemskerck, discovers Beren Island (Berenøya) and Spitsbergen (Svalbard) and rounds the northern tip of Nova Zembla. Winters on Nova Zembla, but dies of scurvy on the return voyage.

Dutch explorer sought northerly route to the Indies

The wintering at Novaya Zemlya, 1596-1597

Willem Barentsz and the Northeast passage

The Northern Route: Willem Barents

Arthur Barlowe (England, 1550?-1620)

1584: In Raleigh's service, with Amadas explores the coasts of North Carolina looking for a place for a colony.

Francis Barrallier (France)

1802: Makes an attempt to cross the Australian Blue Mountains

Juan Enríquez Barroto (Spain/Mexico, 1660?-1693)

1686: Looking for La Salle, circumnavigates the Gulf of Mexico, visits Pensacola Bay, Mobile Bay and the Mississippi.

1688: Serving under Pez, visits the coast of Texas after rumours of a French settlement in the area.

1692: With Terán, wants to explore the Mississippi as a route to the Spanish Texan colonies, but fails because of adverse weather conditions.

Heinrich Barth (Germany, 1821-1865)

1850-1855: Joins a British expedition across the Sahara, with Richardson and Overweg. He visits Marzuq, Ghat, the Air mountains, Agadez, Katsina, Kano, Kukawa and Timbuktu, and explores Lake Chad.

George Bass (England, 1771-1812?)

1795: With Flinders, explores Port Hacking, south of Sydney.

1797-1798: Follows the Australian coast from Sydney southward upto Western Port (near Melbourne), showing that Tasmania is an island

1798-1799: With Flinders, circumnavigates Tasmania and sails up the Derwent.

George Bass

Pacific Explorers Library: George Bass

Matthew Flinders

Rodrigo de Bastidas (Spain, 1460?-1526)

1501: With Juan de La Cosa, explores the South American coast from Trinidad to Panama.

1526: Establishes a colony, Santa Marta, on the coast of Colombia.

Henry Walter Bates (England, 1825-1892)

Entomologist, famous for his theory of mimicry.

1848-1859: Partly with Wallace does biological research in the Amazon area.

Henry Walter Bates

Henry Walter Bates (1825-1892)

Bates and some toucans

Thomas Nicolas Baudin (France, 1754-1803)

1800-1803: Maps the Australian coast, especially the parts between Sydney and Encounter Bay.

France's Role in Exploring Australia's Coastline

James Pierson (Jim) Beckwourth (USA, 1798-1866)

1823: Joins Ashley's fur-trapping expedition to the Rocky Mountains.

1824-1830: Lives among the Crow Indians, and marries a Crow woman.

Discovers Beckwourth Pass

Edward Belcher (England)

1852-1854: Leads an expedition to search for Franklin.

Gertrude Margaret Lothian Bell (England, 1868-1926)

1899-1924: Makes several voyages through the Middle East.

1913-1914: Visits Ha'il in Saudi Arabia.

The Gertrude Bell Project

Gertrude Margaret Lowthian Bell

Daughter of the Desert

Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen (also known as Thaddeus von Bellingshausen, Russia, 1778-1852)

1820-1821: Circumnavigates at a very southernly latitude (mostly south of 60°). Discovers Peter Island and Alexander I island, the first land to be discovered south of the Antarcticc circle.

Sebastián de Benalcázar (also known as Belalcázar, Spain, 1495?-1551)

1533: Conquers Quito.

1535: Pushes northward into the Muisca kingdom (Colombia), looking for El Dorado, but finds that Jimenez de Queseda has already conquered the area.

Early Spanish expeditions to Colombia

Floyd Bennett (USA, 1890-1928)

1925-1928: Byrd's main assistant. Experienced aircraft pilot and mechanic.

1926: With Byrd, first to fly over the North Pole.

James Theodore Bent (England, 1852-1897)

1893-1894: With his wife Mabel Bent reaches Wadi Hadhramaut.

Vitus Bering (Denmark, 1681-1741)

1725-1729: Travels through Siberia to Kamtchatka. Follows the coast northward through Bering Strait, thus showing that Asia and America are not connected.

1733-1742: Leader of the Great Northern Expedition, which explored and mapped large parts of Siberia and the North Pacific.

1740-1742: Crosses the north Pacific from Kamchatka to Alaska, follows the Alaskan coast and the Aleoutians, but dies of scurvy on Bering Island.

Alexandr Chirikov

Joseph Elzéar Bernier (Canada, 1852-1934)

1906-1911: Travels through the Canadian Arctic to assert Canadian sovereignty over the region.

1912-1917, 1922-1925: Makes several more voyages to the Canadian Arctic.

Ulysses of the Arctic

Joseph-Elzér Bernier: Arctic Mariner

Jean de Bethencourt (France, 1360?-1422)

1402-1406: Conquers and colonizes the Canaries.

The coast of Africa

Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne, Sieur de Bienville (France/Canada, 1680-1767)

1697-9: Joins Iberville on his expedition to found a fort at Biloxi.

1699-1700: Explores the lower Mississippi and Red Rivers.

1702-1712: Commander of the French colony; moves the main fort twice, finally putting it at the place of present-day Mobile.

1716: Founds New Orleans

Hiram Bingham (USA, 1875-1956)

1906-1914: Makes 5 voyages to South America.

1911: Discovers the Inca city Machu Picchu.

John Biscoe (?-1848)

1830-2: Circumnavigates Antarctica. Discovers Enderby Land and some islands west of Graham Land.

Samuel Black (UK)

1824: Explores the headwaters of the Peace and the Finlay River.

Gregory Blaxland (England, 1778-1853)

1813: First to cross the Australian Blue Mountains.

Gregory Blaxland - Blaxland, Wentworth & Lawson

Pacific Explorers Library: Gregory Blaxland

Blaxland, Lawson & Wentworth

William Bligh (England, 1754-1817)

1787-1789: Sails the Bounty to Tahiti to obtain breadfruit to transport to the West Indies. After a mutiny on the return voyage manages to navigate from the Friendly Islands to Timor on an open boat.

1791: Travels again to Tahiti and obtains breadfruit that is brought to Jamaica. Charts the northeast coast of Australia.

1805-1810: Captain general of New South Wales, the last two years as a prisoner of mutineers.

Captain Bligh's awful voyage

William Bligh

Colonial: William Bligh

Mutiny on the HMS Bounty

William Bligh (1754-1817)

Bligh, William

Wilfred Scaven Blunt (England, 1840-1922)

1878: With his wife, Lady Anne Blunt, travels from Damascus to Ha'il (Arabia) to buy horses.

Juan Francisco de la Bodega y Quadra (Spain, 1743-1794)

1775: Second-in-command to Bruno de Hezeta's expedition to explore the Californian coastline. When Hezeta does not want to go on, Bodega leaves him and pushes on alone. He reaches 58°30' N.

1779: Second-in-command to the expedition of Ignacio de Arteaga, which explores Bucareli Sound, and reaches Afognak Island (near Kodiak, Alaska).

Domingo de Boénechea (Spain, 1730?-1775)

1772-3: Attempts to claim Easter Island and Tahiti for Spain. Explores the Tuamotu-archipelago.

1774-5: Travels again to Tahiti and discovers various islands of Tuamotu. Dies on Tahiti.

George Bogle (Scotland, 1746-1781)

1774: Travels to Tibet to try to start English-Tibetan trade relationships. Visits the Panchen Lama in Tashilhumpo.

Francisco Leyva de Bonilla (Portugal, dates unknown)

1594-7?: Leader of an (illegal) expedition to New Mexico. Moves on to Kansas and Nebraska, but is killed in a quarrel with his second-in-command Humaña.

Aimé Bonpland (France, 1773-1858)

1799-1800: With Von Humboldt, explores the Orinoco and confirms the existence of the Casiquiare, a 'natural channel' connecting the Orinoco and Rio Negro rivers. Makes important biological observations.

1801-3: With Von Humboldt, travels through Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. Makes scientific observations.

Aimé Bonpland Naturalista (in Spanish)

Humboldt & Bonpland

Alexander von Humboldt

Benjamin Louis Eulalie de Bonneville (USA, 1796-1878)

1832-1835: Lives in the Rocky Mountain area, trapping fur and gathering intelligence.

1833: Sends out Walker to explore the area west of the Great Salt Lake.

Daniel Boone (USA, 1734-1820)

1769: From North Carolina goes to Kentucky through the Cumberland Gap and explores the area.

1775: Leads the first American colonists into Kentucky, starting the "Wilderness Road". Establishes a fort, Boonesborough, near present-day Lexington.

1799: Settles in Missouri, then Spanish property.

Daniel Boone - Myth and Reality

Daniel Boone - American Pioneer and Trailblazer

autobiography

Life and adventures of Col. Daniel Boone (18th century biography)

Daniel Boone Homestead - alternative site

Carsten Borchgrevink (Norway (lived in Australia), 1864-1934)

1894-1895: Joins Leonard Kristensen on an expedition to the southern seas. As far as known, members of this expedition are the first to set food on mainland Antarctica.

1898-1900: Leads a British expedition to Antarctica. First to winter in Antarctica.

The first overwintering on the continent

Fernando del Bosque (Spain, dates unknown)

1674: Leads an expedition in Texas.

Bosque-Larios expedition

Louis Antoine de Bougainville (France, 1729-1811)

1763: Attempts to colonize the Falkland Islands.

1766-1769: Circumnavigates. Visits Tuamotu, Tahiti, Samoa and Vanuatu. Discovers the Great Barrier Reef, Bougainville and Choiseul.

A short biography of Louis-Antoine Bougainville

Bougainville, Louis-Antoine de (in German)

Bougainville

Bougainville (in French, emphasizes on his officership during the seven-year war)

Jean-Baptiste Charles Bouvet de Lozier (France, 1704-1786)

1738-1739: Explores the southern Indian Ocean, and discovers Bouvet Island (Bouvetøya), believing it to be a cape of the southern continent.

Louise Arner Boyd (USA, 1887-1972)

1928: Takes part in the search for Amundsen.

1931-1938: Undertakes four voyages of exploration to northeast Greenland.

1955: First woman to fly over the North Pole.

William Bradford (England, 1590-1657)

Governor of the Pilgrim colony of Plymouth most of the time between 1621 to 1656.

The Mayflower Web Pages

The History of Thanksgiving

The Mayflower Compact

Edward Bransfield (England)

1819-20: Maps the South Shetland Islands, the tip of Graham Land and several islands in the region.

Jeroen François: Antarctica in sight

Pierre-Paul-François-Camille Savorgnan de Brazza (France, born Italian, 1852-1905)

1874-1878: From Gabon travels inland and finds the source of the Ogowe.

1879-1882: Travels to the Congo, and convinces the Bateke ruler to take his kingdom under French protection, thus starting French Congo and French possession of large parts of Central Africa.

1886-1898: Governor-general of French Congo.

Saint Brendan (Ireland, 484?-577?)

Is claimed to have made a long sea voyage over the Atlantic. The story is probably a compendium of stories from several Irish monks.

Irish and Vikings

James Bridger (USA, 1804-1881) (aka Jim Bridger)

Mountain man, leader or guide to several expeditions to the Rocky Mountains area.

1824: Discovers the Great Salt Lake.

1827: Discovers South Pass.

1830: First European to reach what is now Yellowstone Park.

1843: Establishes Fort Bridger, a stop on the Oregon Trail.

1850: Discovers Bridger's Pass.

James Bridger

James Bridger

Fort Bridger

Fort Bridger State Historic Site

Hendrick Brouwer (Netherlands, 1580-1643)

1611: Finds a better route from South Africa to Java, sailing eastward until reaching the right longitude, then turning north to Java.

1643: Travels to Chili to fight the Spanish and look for gold. Dies of illness.

James Bruce (Scotland, 1730-1794)

1768-1773: Travels through Ethiopia and finds the source of the Blue Nile.

Renaissance Man - James Bruce of Kinnaird

James Bruce (1730-1794)

William Spiers Bruce

1902-1905: Undertakes oceanographic and other scientific exploration in the South Atlantic and the Weddell Sea.

Playing the bagpipes between penguins

Etienne Brulé (France, 1592?-1633)

From 1610 onwards lives most of his life among the Huron Indians.

1611: Reaches Lake Huron and Georgian Bay.

1615-1616: With Champlain helps the Hurons in their fight against the Iroquois. With the Hurons travels south to Chesapeake Bay. Follows the Susquehanna River down to Chesapeake Bay.

1616: Is captured and tortured by the Iroquois.

1621: Reaches the western end of Lake Superior, present day Duluth.

1633: Killed and eaten by the Hurons.

Étienne Brulé - Interpreter and Explorer

Etienne Brule - A Biography

Olivier Brunel (Netherlands, 1540?-1585)

1557: Reaches the White Sea.

ca. 1567: Imprisoned by the Russians for espionage on request of the English. Locked away in Yaroslavl. After a few years of imprisonment, joins the Stroganov family's trading firm, and is believed to have reached the Ob with them.

1576: Returns to the Netherlands and joins the trade with Russia.

1583: Tries to reach Greenland, but gets lost in the clouds and the ice west of Iceland.

1584: Searches for the northeast passage, but does not come further than Kostin Shar, the straits south of Nova Zembla.

David Buchan (UK)

1818: Tries to cross the Arctic close to the pole to Bering Strait. Does not get much further than Spitsbergen.

William Burchell (UK, 1782-1863)

1810-2: Visits the Cape Colony for botanical and other research. Reaches the Kalahari desert and the confluence of Vaal and Orange and visits Lattakoo.

Johann Ludwig Burckhardt (Switzerland, 1784-1817)

1813-1815: Visits southern Egypt and northern Sudan, and discovers the rock temples of Abu Simbl. Crosses the Nubian desert and visits Mecca.

Robert O'Hara Burke (Ireland, 1821-1861)

1860-1861: Leader of the first expedition to cross Australia from south to north, from Melbourne, by way of Menindee and Cooper Creek to the Gulf of Carpentaria. Dies of starvation during the return trip.

Stephen Burrough (England, 1525-1584)

1556: Looking for the northeast passage, reaches Vaygach, south of Nova Zembla.

Richard Burton (England, 1821-1890)

1853: Joins the pilgrimage to Mecca.

1854: With Speke explores the inland of Somalia, visiting the city of Harer.

1857-1858: With Speke searches for the sources of the Nile and discovers lake Tanganyika.

Doomed Explorers - Sir Richard Francis Burton

Sir Richard Burton

Captain Sir Richard Francis Burton

Death, deceit & the Nile - on the Burton-Speke expedition

Thomas Button (Wales, ca.1575-1634)

1612-1613: Trying to find the northwest passage, discovers and explores the west coast of Hudson Bay.

Robert Bylot (England, dates unknown)

1610-1611: Takes part of Hudson's last expedition. Captains the ship back to England after the mutiny.

1612-1613: With Button, discovers and explores the west coast of Hudson Bay.

1615: With Baffin, explores the northern Hudson Bay, and concludes that it does not provide a northwest passage.

1616: With Baffin, maps Davis Strait and Baffin Bay looking for the northwest passage.

William Baffin

Richard Evelyn Byrd (USA, 1888-1957)

1926: Makes the first flight over the North Pole together with Floyd Bennett.

1928-1930: With Bernt Balcon the first to fly over the South Pole. Aids in the establishment of Little America, a permanent base on Antarctica.

1933-1935: Leads a scientific expedition to Antarctica. Remains for four months solo in a weather station during the Antarctic winter, but has to be saved because of carbon monoxide poisoning.

1946-1947: Leader of the operation High Jump, the largest Antarctic expedition upto that moment.

1955-1957: Leader of the American contribution to the Antarctic exploration in the framework of the International Geophysical Year.

Antarctic Explorers: Richard E. Byrd

Admiral Richard E. Byrd, 1888-1957

Due North? - did Byrd really reach the North Pole?

Operation High Jump on Ross Island

Byrd Polar Research Center

Floyd Bennett

John Byron (England, 1723-1786)

1764-1766: Circumnavigates. Explores the Falklands and discovers Byron Island and the Gilbert Islands.