You've probably heard about the adventure novel Around the World in 80 Days, which was published in 1872 by the French writer Jules Verne. According to the plot of this book, the English daredevil Phileas Fogg makes a bet for a large sum of money that he can travel around the world in just over 2.5 months. Many cartoons were made based on this novel, and this plot is also very popular in the field of cinema. Some readers and viewers might have a very interesting question: in how many days can you circumnavigate the entire Earth in the modern world? Indeed, today there are many more means of transportation than the heroes of the 19th century novel had. Read on, and in a couple of minutes you will find out the answer!
Today people have many more opportunities to travel around the world than before
The very first trip around the world
The first trip around the world was made in the 16th century by Spanish sailors. The expedition around the globe began with the fact that the king of Spain gave the legendary navigatorFernand MagellanAn important task is to find a new sea route for trading with countries on the opposite side of the Earth. It was necessary for the spice trade.
The journey of Ferdinand Magellan began in 1519. Five huge ships set off, the most important of which was the Victoria. The sailors successfully crossed the Atlantic Ocean, passed through the straits in the south of South America, discovered the Pacific Ocean and reached the Philippine Islands. On these islands, Ferdinand Magellan died at the hands of local residents, so the expedition was then led byJuan Sebastian Elcano.
Interesting fact: The Pacific Ocean got its name during Ferdinand Magellan's trip around the world. Sailors named it so because they never encountered a storm while crossing it.
Navigator Ferdinand Magellan. Portrait by an unknown artist of the 17th century
During the voyage, riots occurred on ships, some sailors died from disease, and others were put ashore for disturbing the order. Ultimately, only the ship Victoria managed to find sea routes and return back to Spain. The trip around the world ended in 1522, that is, it took 16th century people 3 years to circumnavigate the entire Earth.
The route of the first trip around the world. Image source: stock.adobe.com
At the beginning of the trip around the world, there were more than 300 people on board the Victoria. But in the end,only 18 crew members remained on the ship.It turns out that the first circumnavigation of the world was not only long, but also deadly.
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The most unusual trips around the world
Many years have passed since Magellan's first trip around the world. Since then, daredevils from different countries have repeated his feat many times, each time reducing the time and using a wide variety of methods of transportation.
The first Russian trip around the world under the leadership ofIvan Kruzenshtern and Yuri Lisyanskywas committed on the ships “Nadezhda” and “Neva”. The goal was to open new trade ties, as well as an attempt to strengthen diplomacy with Japan. The journey lasted from 1803 to 1806, that is, took the same 3 years. But in this case, losses among the crew were minimal, because people knew much more about the appearance of the Earth, and by the time of the trip they prepared much better than the team of Ferdinand Magellan hundreds of years ago.
Map of Kruzenshtern’s trip around the world. Image source: pechorin.net
In the 20th century, trips around the world began to be undertaken not by teams, but by individuals. For example, between 1911 and 1913, the Russian athlete Onisim Pankratov circumnavigated the world on a bicycle. In 1933, American pilot Wiley Post flew around the Earth in an airplane. In 1961, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin was the first in history to orbit the planet in space. In 2022, American Steve Fossett orbited the Earth in a hot air balloon for the first time. These are not all the amazing stories of trips around the world, in fact there are several dozen of them.
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< h2>The fastest trip around the world
The speed at which a person can travel around the world depends on the transport he chooses. An example is Yuri Gagarin, who inside the Vostok-1 spacecraftcircled the Earth in 1.8 hours.Perhaps today this is the minimum time required for a trip around the world.
You can also fly around the Earth very quickly by plane. To date, the record belongs to the supersonic airliner Concorde – in 1995 it circled the planet in 31 hours 27 minutes 49 seconds.
High-speed Concorde airliner. Photo source: jetphotos.com
The record for the fastest circumnavigation of the world by water was set in 2017 by yachtsman Francois Gabart. It tookhim 42 days and 16 hours to accomplish this feat.
One of the most famous people who circumnavigated the world on foot is the Canadian Jean Beliveau. In 2000, when he was 45 years old, he lost a successful business and decided to travel around the world without money. The man gained great popularity and, with outside help, traveled 76 thousand kilometers on foot, visiting 64 countries. It took him 11 years to travel around the world on foot.
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If you liked the article, read our material about Mary Earhart's trip around the world. This is a very mysterious story!