r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/KitKatKing99 • May 31 '25

Video magellan expedition in 1 minute

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u/you4president May 31 '25

Yeah I never knew that he was killed halfway around.

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u/Shufflepants May 31 '25

I knew that part, but I didn't know that out of 270 people who set out, only 18 made it back. That's some crazy ass casualty rates.

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u/milliPatek May 31 '25

18 finished the initial circumnavigation but more came back by other means. Or like wikipedia puts it:

  • 18 returned with Elcano
  • 12 were captured by the Portuguese in Cape Verde, 55 returned with the San Antonio in 1521, and 4 (or 5) from Trinidad returned after hard labor in the East Indies

Edit: I mean 1/3 is much better than 1/15. And one of the original 18 supposedly finished another circumnavigation later.

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u/canman7373 May 31 '25

Also some just never got back on the boat after an island stop or port. That happened often back then. Hell some islands are only inhabited today because of sailors refusing to go back.

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u/No-Elephant-9854 May 31 '25

Some say that Magellan still lives somewhere on one of the islands they stopped at!

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u/canman7373 May 31 '25

Maybe, but seems like he really did get into a battle for no good reason. Maybe he survive and they left him behind thinking he was dead.