K

Kan Ying (China)

97: Sent out to travel to the Roman Empire, reaches Mesopotamia.

The Roman period

Elisha Kent Kane (USA, 1820-1857)

1853-5: Explores northwest Greenland and tries to reach the North Pole.

Dr. Elisha Kent Kane

Raising Kane: The Making of a Hero, the Marketing of a Celebrity

New-York Daily Times obituary

Elisha Kent Kane Historical Society

Thorfinn Karlsefni (Norway)

ca. 1008: Tries to establish a colony in Vinland, but returns to Greenland after attacks from skraelings (Inuit or Indians)

Irish and Vikings

Henry Kellett (Ireland, 1806-1875)

1848-1854: Member of several expeditions to search for Franklin.

Edward Belcher and Henry Kellett

Henry Kelsey (England, 1667?-1724)

1690-2: Travels inland from Hudson Bay to try to convince more Indians to trade with the Hudson Bay Company.

Edmund Kennedy (England, 1818-1848)

1845: Second-in-command on Mitchell's expedition to Queensland.

1847: Explores the Victoria River.

1848: Leads an expedition to chart Queensland's east coast. Is killed by hostile aboriginals.

Edmund Kennedy

Pacific Explorers Library: Edmund Kennedy

Clarence King (USA, 1842-1901)

1867-73: Meticulously explores the American west around the 40th parallel.

Clarence King's Description of Yosemite Valley

Why climb mountains?

Philipp Parker King (Australia)

1817-22: Explores the Australian coastline.

Mary Henrietta Kingsley (UK, 1862-1900)

1893: Travels to Africa to do scientific research.

1894-5: Explores the Ogowe, travels widely through Gabon and does important ethnological research.

Mary Henrietta Kingsley

Mary H. Kingsley references

Eusebio Francisco Kino (Italy, 1645-1711)

1683-5: Joins Isidro de Atondo y Antillón on an expedition to found settlements in Bjaja California. With Antillón explores the region.

1687-1711: Sent to do missionary work in Sonora (northwestern Mexico and southern Arizona). Makes an estimated 50 different expeditions in that period, increasing geographical knowledge and converting Indians.

1691: Establishes missions in various places in Arizona.

1693: Establishes missions along the Magdalena River. First person known to have travelled to the lower Altar River.

1697: Explores the valley of the San Pedro and converts Indians.

1698-9: Establishes missions along the Santa Cruz and Gila Rivers. Travels extensively through southern Arizona, and is the first European to traverse the Devil's Highway.

1699: Follows the Gila River downstream to the mouth of the Colorado, proving the possibility of reaching California overland.

Father Eusebio Francisco Kino - Desert Missionary & Explorer

Father Eusebio Francisco Kino - Padre on Horseback

Padre Eusebio Kino

Kintup (also known as K.P., Sikkim, dates unknown)

1879-1883: Sent to Tibet with a Mongolian Lama to explore the Tsangpo. Is sold to another Lama, but later manages to get free and complete his work.

The Pundits

James Knight (England, 1640-1719)

1719: Goes looking for the Northwest Passage in the Hudson Bay, but dies with all his men.

Carl Koldewey (Germany, 1837-1908)

1868: Explores the seas east of Greenland.

1869-70: Leads another expedition to the East Coast of Greenland.

Carl Koldewey - Pioneer in the Arctic Ocean

Auf den Spuren der Germania

timeline (in German)

Otto von Kotzebue (Russia, 1787-1846)

1815-8: Sent to look for the northwest passage through Bering Strait. Discovers a few Pacific islands and explores the coast of Alaska.

1823-6: Circumnavigates a second time and visits various Pacific islands.

Johann Ludwig Krapf (Germany, 1810-1887)

1844: Founds a mission post in Rabai near Mombasa.

1848: Travels inland and is the first European to see Mt. Kenia.

1850: With Erhardt explores the coast between Mombasa and Mozambique.

Biographisches-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon: Krapf, Johann Ludwig (in German)

Marc L. Lipschutz and R. Kent Rasmussen: Krapf, Johann Ludwig

M. Louise Pirouet: The Legacy of Johann Ludwig Krapf

Adam Ivan von Krusenstern (also known as Adam Johann von Krusenstern, Ivan Fyodorovich Krusenshtern, Russia, 1770-1846)

1803-5: Circumnavigates. Visits Brasil, the Marquesas, Kamchatka, Japan and China. Explores Yeso (Hokkaido).