List of circumnavigations

16th century

The 18 survivors, led by Juan Sebastián Elcano, of Ferdinand Magellan's Castilian ('Spanish') expedition (which began with 5 ships and 270 men); 1519–1522; westward from Spain; in Victoria. After Magellan was killed by natives in the Philippines on 27 April 1521, the circumnavigation was completed under the command of the Basque Spanish seafarer Juan Sebastián Elcano who returned to Sanlúcar de Barrameda, Spain, on 6 September 1522, after a journey of 3 years and 1 month. These men were the first to circumnavigate the globe in a single expedition.

The survivors of García Jofre de Loaísa's Spanish expedition 1525–1536 including Andrés de Urdaneta; westward from Spain. None of Loaísa's seven ships completed the voyage, but Santa María de la Victoria reached the Moluccas before being wrecked in a Portuguese attack. Successive chiefs of the expedition (Loaísa, Elcano, Salazar, Iñiguez, De la Torre) died during the voyages. Andrés de Urdaneta and other fellow men survived, reaching the Spice Islands in 1526, to be taken prisoner by the Portuguese. Urdaneta and a few of his men returned to Spain in 1536 aboard Portuguese ships via India, the Cape of Good Hope and Portugal, and completed the second world circumnavigation in history.

Francis Drake; 1577–1580; westward from England; in Golden Hind; discovered the Drake Passage but entered the Pacific via the Strait of Magellan; first English circumnavigation and the second carried out in a single expedition. Drake was the first to complete a circumnavigation as captain while leading the expedition throughout the entire circumnavigation.

Martín Ignacio de Loyola; 1580–1584; westward from Spain.

Thomas Cavendish; 1586–1588; westward from England; in Desire.

Martín Ignacio de Loyola; 1585–1589; eastward from Spain (via Macau, China, and Acapulco, Mexico); First person to circumnavigate the world twice, first one to do so eastwards and both westwards and eastwards (1580–1584 westward and 1585–1589 eastward), and first to use overland routes in his circumnavigation.

João da Gama; 1584 (or 1585)–1590; eastward from Portugal; from Lisbon to India, Malacca, Macau (China) and Japan. Gama crossed the Pacific at a higher northern latitude; was taken prisoner in Mexico and carried in Spanish ships to the Iberian Peninsula. One of the first to do eastwards, mostly by sea.

17th century

The survivors of the expedition of Jacques Mahu; 1598–1601; westward from Holland; Of Mahu's five ships only two returned.

The survivors of the expedition of Olivier van Noort; 1598–1601; westward from Holland; Of Van Noort's four ships only two returned.

Francesco Carletti; Florentine merchant; 1594–1602; westward from Italy; travelled across the American continent overland, through Panama. All Carletti's other travel was by sea until he ended in the Netherlands; he travelled from there overland back to Italy. Carletti was perhaps the first to travel all legs as a passenger, not as a ship's officer or a crew member. Carletti described his journey in his autobiography, "My Voyage Around the World", translated into various languages.

Joris van Spilbergen; 1614–1617; westward from Holland.

Willem Schouten and Jacob Le Maire; 1615–1617; westward from Holland; in Eendraght; Discovered Cape Horn and the first expedition to enter the Pacific via the Drake Passage.

Jacques l'Hermite and John Hugo Schapenham; 1623–1626; westward from Holland.

Pedro Cubero; 1670–1679; eastward from Spain; the first maritime circumnavigation including significant travel overland.

William Dampier (English); 1679–1691; westward from England.

Giovanni Francesco Gemelli Careri; 1693–1698; eastward from Naples; the first tourist to circumnavigate the globe, paying his own way on multiple voyages, crossing Mexico on land.

18th century

William Funnell (English); 1703–1706.

William Dampier (English); 1703–1706.

Woodes Rogers (English); 1708–1711; with the Duke and the Duchess; He rescued Alexander Selkirk on Juan Fernandez on 31 January 1709. Selkirk had been stranded there for four years.

William Dampier (English); 1708–1711; First person to circumnavigate the world three times (1679–1691, 1703–1707 and 1708–1711).

George Anson, 1st Baron Anson; 1740–1744; in HMS Centurion.

John Byron; 1764–1766; in HMS Dolphin.

Samuel Wallis and Philip Carteret; 1766–1768; in HMS Dolphin and HMS Swallow; Carteret had served on Byron's expedition. Dolphin was the first ship to survive two circumnavigations.

Louis de Bougainville; 1766–1769; On board was Jeanne Baré, disguised as a man, the first woman to circumnavigate the globe; first French circumnavigation.

James Cook; 1768–1771; in HMS Endeavour; The first circumnavigation to lose no personnel to scurvy.

Tobias Furneaux; 1772–1774; in HMS Adventure (Furneaux was a veteran of Byron's expedition.).

James Cook; 1772–1775; in HMS Resolution.

Alessandro Malaspina; 1776–1778.

George Dixon and Nathaniel Portlock; 1785–1788; in Queen Charlotte and King George respectively; early pioneers of the Maritime Fur Trade between the Pacific Northwest and China.

Robert Gray; 1787–1790; first American circumnavigation.

19th century

Ignacio Maria de Alava; 1795–1803; in Montañés, flagship of a Spanish Navy squadron.

Adam Johann von Krusenstern and Yuri Lisyansky; 1803–1806; the first Russian circumnavigation.

Hipolito Bouchard; 1817–1819; in La Argentina (Corsair Ship, Frigate); from Buenos Aires (Argentina, South America) via Cape of Good Hope, Madagascar, Java, Philippines, Hawaii, California, El Salvador, Valparaiso (Chile). The first Argentine to circumnavigate the world.

Faddey Bellingshausen and Mikhail Lazarev; 1819–1821; the first circumnavigation mostly between 60° and 70° S, discovered Antarctica and the first islands south of the Antarctic Circle.

HMS Warspite; 1826–1828; as part of her assuming the role of the flagship of the South American station squadron, from England via Cape of Good Hope, Burma, Australia and Brazil, returning to England via the Caribbean.

USS Vincennes, 3 September 1826 – 8 June 1830; from New York by way of Cape Horn, visiting the Hawaiian islands in 1829 and Macau in 1830. Her return voyage was made by way of China, the Philippines, the Indian Ocean, and the Cape of Good Hope. After nearly four years, Vincennes arrived back in New York under Commander William B. Finch. Two days later the ship was decommissioned.

USS Potomac; 19 August 1831 – 23 May 1834; Commodore John Downes commanding, departed New York for the first Sumatran Expedition via the Cape of Good Hope, and returned via Cape Horn to Boston.

Robert Fitzroy; 1831–1836; in HMS Beagle; with Charles Darwin.

Sir George Simpson; 1841–1842; made the first "land circumnavigation" by crossing Canada and Siberia.

USS Constitution; May 1844 - September 1845; commanded by Captain John "Mad Jack" Percival.

The paddle sloop HMS Driver; 1845-1847; first steamship circumnavigation.

The first Galathea expedition; 1845–1847; first Danish circumnavigation.

HMS Herald; 1845-1851; Discovered Herald Island in the Bering Straits while searching for the Sir John Franklin Expedition.

The screw frigate Amazonas; 1856–1858; first Peruvian circumnavigation.

SMS Novara; 1857–1859; first Austrian circumnavigation.

CSS Shenandoah; 1864–65; only Confederate ship to circumnavigate. Capt. James Iredell Waddell.

Casto Méndez Núñez; 1865–1868; aboard Numancia; first ironclad warship circumnavigation; "Enloricata navis que primo terram circuivit".

Fernando Villaamil; 1892–1894; aboard Nautilus; first training ship circumnavigation.

Joshua Slocum; 1895–1898; first single-handed circumnavigation.

20th century

The Great White Fleet; 1907–1909; first fleet to circumnavigate the world.

Harry Pidgeon; 1921–1925; second single-handed circumnavigation.

HMS Hood, HMS Repulse, and the rest of the Special Service Squadron; 1923–24; in the Empire Cruise, a tour of the British Empire after World War I.

Harry Pidgeon; 1932–1937; third single-handed circumnavigation, first person to circumnavigate solo twice (1921–1925 and 1932–1937).

Electa and Irving Johnson; 1934–1958; sail training pioneers, circumnavigated the world 7 times with amateur crews.

Vito Dumas; 1942; single handed circumnavigation of the southern oceans, including the first single handed passage of all three great capes.

HMCS Labrador; 1954; first circumnavigation of North America. Halifax west through Northwest Passage. South to Panama canal and return to Halifax.

Operation Sandblast; 1960; USS Triton; first underwater circumnavigation.

Operation Sea Orbit; 1964; USS Enterprise, USS Long Beach, and USS Bainbridge; first circumnavigation by an all-nuclear naval task force.

1966 Soviet submarine global circumnavigation.

Sir Francis Chichester; 1966–1967; first single-handed circumnavigation with just one port of call.

Sir Alec Rose; 1967-1968; single-handed circumnavigation with two stops (in Australia and New Zealand).

Leonid Teliga; 1967–1969; single-handed circumnavigation aboard SY Opty.

Robin Knox-Johnston; 1968–1969; first single-handed non-stop circumnavigation.

Robin Lee Graham; 1965–1970; then youngest (at ages 16–21) solo circumnavigation aboard 24-foot sailboat Dove.

Chay Blyth; 1971; first westwards single-handed non-stop circumnavigation.

Edward Allcard; 1957–1973; circumnavigation via the three great capes aboard his 36-foot wooden ketch Sea Wanderer.

USS Inchon; ETR-3 crew SEP-1972-SEP-1973 Circumnavigation via Panama Canal Norfolk VA. East to West.

Krystyna Chojnowska-Liskiewicz; 1976–1978; first woman to perform a single-handed circumnavigation.

Naomi James; 1977–1978; first woman to perform a single-handed circumnavigation via Cape Horn.

Mark Schrader; 1982; completed two solo circumnavigations. In 1982–1983 became the first American to complete a solo circumnavigation via the five southernmost capes.

Marvin Creamer (USA); 21 December 1982 – 17 May 1984; only known person to circumnavigate the globe by boat with no nautical aids, not even a compass or watch [1].

Bertie Reed - 1982 - the first South African to complete three singlehanded circumnavigations.

David Scott Cowper; 1985; first single-handed circumnavigation by motor boat.

Dodge Morgan; 12 November 1985 - 11 April 1986; Aboard sailboat American Promise, became first American to sail solo around the world, non-stop.

Trishna; 28 September 1985 - 10 January 1987; First Indian circumnavigation by an Indian Army Corps of Engineers crew. Also had the first handicapped sailor to sail around the globe.

Teddy Seymour; 1987; aboard sailboat Love Song; the first African-American to complete solo single-handed circumnavigation.

Mike Plant; 1987–1991; completed three circumnavigations.

1986–87: Won the BOC Challenge (Class II - Open 50) with a time of 157 days aboard Airco Distributor, an Open 50 sloop built by Plant and designed by Roger Martin.

1989: Competed in the first Vendée Globe on Duracell, an Open 60 sloop built by Plant and designed by Roger Martin. Although eliminated from the race after receiving help with a rudder repair in New Zealand, Plant still set a record for the fastest American to sail single-handed around the world with a time of 135 days.

1990/91: Finished 4th overall in the BOC Challenge, setting the highest mark in a solo-sailing event for an American with a time of 132 days.

The Thurston Family; 1984–1987; First Australian family to complete a circumnavigation.

Tania Aebi; 1985–1987; American woman who completed a solo circumnavigation by the age of 21, one 80-nautical-mile (150 km) stretch with crew disqualified her from an official record.

Kay Cottee; 1988; first woman to perform a solo non-stop circumnavigation.

David Scott Cowper; 1990; first single-handed circumnavigation via the North West Passage.

Brian Caldwell; 1995-1996; '1st-Under-Age-21' to complete solo circumnavigation with stops, completed by age 20.

David Dicks; 1996; youngest recognized assisted circumnavigation, completed aged 18 years 41 days.

Henk de Velde; 1997; sailed a catamaran eastbound around the world in 119 days, non-stop. He is still the only person in the world to perform this feat single-handed with a catamaran, although others have made faster single-handed circumnavigations in trimarans (Ellen MacArthur, 2005, and Francis Joyon, 2008).

1998 Ocean 7 Adventurer; July 1998 in 74 days, 20 hours, 58 minutes, traveling more than 22,600 nautical miles (41,855 km). This achievement set a new Guinness World Record for a powered vessel.

Robert Case; 1998–2001; first solo American amputee to sail eastbound around the world..

Jesse Martin; 1999; youngest recognized unassisted circumnavigation, completed aged 18 years 66 days.

Azhar Mansor; 1999; first Malaysian to sail solo around the world.

Alex Thomson; 1999; youngest skipper ever to win a round the world race (Clipper 1998-1999)

Daniel D. Moreland; 1997-1998; first circumnavigation of sail training vessel Picton Castle

21st century

Ellen MacArthur; 2001; monohull; circumnavigated singlehandedly as the then fastest woman.

Mike Golding; 2001; First person to circumnavigate non-stop in both eastward and westward directions. 1993 World record for a westward circumnavigation, 161 days, Group 4. 2001 Vendee Globe Race 7th position.

Bruno Peyron and crew; 2005; aboard maxi catamaran Orange II; set the then current windpowered circumnavigation record, 50 days, 16 hours, 20 minute.

Ellen MacArthur; 2005; trimaran B&Q/Castorama; then the fastest singlehanded circumnavigation (71 days), is still the fastest woman in 2010. See also 2001.

Dee Caffari; 2005-2006; first woman to perform a solo westward non-stop circumnavigation, in 178 days.

Spanish frigate Álvaro de Bazán (F101); 2007; First circumnavigation of the globe by a Spanish warship in 142 years.

RMS Queen Mary 2; 2007 world cruise; at 148,528 gross ton, the world's largest passenger ship to circumnavigate the globe.

Earthrace; 2008; wave-piercing trimaran, with two 540 horsepower multi-fuelled engines; current world record holder for a motorized vessel (disputed with USS Triton, 1960), in 60 days 23 hours and 49 minutes.

Francis Joyon; 2008; 95 ft (29 m) IDEC 2; current fastest singlehanded multihull circumnavigation, in 57 days 13 hours 34 minutes 06 seconds.

Michael Perham; 2009; then youngest person (aged 16–17 years) to perform a singlehanded circumnavigation (with stops, through Panama Canal).

Franck Cammas and a crew of 10; 2010; French trimaran Groupama 3; set the fastest maritime circumnavigation at the time, in a time of 48 days, 7 hours 44 minutes and 52 seconds.

Cdr Dilip Donde (Indian Navy); 2009-2010; First Indian to carry out a solo circumnavigation; stopped in four ports - Fremantle, Lyttelton, Port Stanley and Cape Town.

Jessica Watson; 2009-2010; youngest person (aged 16) to perform a solo non-stop circumnavigation (past Cape Horn).

Reid Stowe; 2007-2010; eastbound circumnavigation, 1152 days; longest time spent at sea without resupply or touching land.

Minoru Saito; 2008-2011; oldest person (aged 77) to perform a singlehanded circumnavigation (westbound, past Cape Horn, with stops). He has made eight singlehanded circumnavigations; after the seventh (which was non-stop) at age 71 he was already the oldest.

PlanetSolar; 2010-2012; first solar vehicle to circumnavigate the globe.

Laura Dekker; 2011–2012; youngest person (aged 14–16 years) to perform a singlehanded circumnavigation (with stops, through Panama Canal).

British sailor Jeanne Socrates; 2012-2013; oldest woman (aged 70) to single-handedly sail around the world, non-stop without outside assistance, also making her first woman to make solo non-stop unassisted circumnavigation from west coast of North America (Victoria BC, Canada). Oldest, in 2010-2011 (aged 68), to sail single-handedly around the world, with stops. Both were eastbound via Cape Horn.

Abhilash Tomy (Indian Navy); 2012-2013; First Indian to sail solo, nonstop around the world without outside assistance. Sailed south of the five southernmost capes.

Gerry Hughes; 2012-2013; First deaf yachtsman to sail single-handed around the world to pass the five great capes. On 1 September 2012, Hughes left Troon, Scotland to start his eight-month journey across the world. Hughes travel around the world solo, sailed 32,000 miles and became the first deaf yachtsman to passed all five southernmost capes - Cape Agulhas, Cape Leeuwin, South East Cape, South West Cape and Cape Horn.

Daniel Moreland; 2000-2002, 2003-2004, 2005–2006, 2010-2011, 2012-2014; five additional circumnavigations aboard Sail Training vessel Picton Castle.

Fastest nautical circumnavigations of the globe

(Ordered by ascending date of completion of voyage)

Operation Sandblast; 1960; USS Triton; first underwater circumnavigation, and fastest mechanically powered circumnavigation (disputed with Earthrace, 2008), in 60 days 21 hours.

Jon Sanders; 1986–1988; holds the world record for completing a single-handed, non-stop, triple circumnavigation, in 657 days 21 hours and 18 minutes.

Jean Luc Van Den Heede (French); 2004; fastest westward single-handed circumnavigation, 122 days 14 hours 3 minutes 49 seconds.

Adrienne Cahalan (Australian); February–March 2004; fastest woman to complete a circumnavigation (crew of "Cheyenne") 58 days 9 hours 32 minutes 45 seconds.

Earthrace; 2008; wave-piercing trimaran, with two 540 horsepower multi-fuelled engines; current world record holder for a motorized vessel (disputed with USS Triton, 1960), in 60 days 23 hours and 49 minutes.

Thomas Coville (French); Nov 2016–Dec 2016; current fastest single-handed circumnavigation, in 49 days, 3 hours, 7 minutes, 38 seconds.

Francis Joyon and crew of five sailors; Dec 2016–Jan 2017; the Maxi trimaran IDEC SPORT; current absolute (wind or mechanically powered) fastest maritime circumnavigation, in 40 days 23 hours 30 minutes 30 seconds of sailing. Average speed of 26.85 knots (30.71 MPH), covering a total distance of 26,412 nautical miles (48,915 km; 30,394 mi).

Aircraft

United States Army Air Service, 1924, first aerial circumnavigation, 175 days, covering 44,360 kilometres (27,560 mi).

Friedrich Karl von Koenig-Warthausen, in a Klemm L.20, circumnavigated the globe solo, between August 1928 and November 1929 (oceanic legs via ship).

LZ-127 Graf Zeppelin, 1929, piloted by Hugo Eckener set a record for the fastest aerial circumnavigation, 21 days, which was also the first circumnavigation in an airship.

On 1 July 1931, pilot Wiley Post and navigator Harold Gatty completed their circumnavigation of the world in a Lockheed Vega aeroplane, Winnie Mae, in 8 days, 15 hours and 51 minutes; the record for fastest circumnavigation was once again held by an aeroplane.

In 1932, Wolfgang von Gronau flew around the world in a twin-engine Dornier seaplane, Gronland-Wal D-2053, in nearly four months, making 44 stops en route. He was accompanied by co-pilot Gerth von Roth, mechanic Franzl Hack, and radio operator Fritz Albrecht.

In 1933, Wiley Post repeated his circumnavigation by aeroplane, but this time solo, using an autopilot and radio direction finder. He made the first solo aerial circumnavigation in a time one day faster than his previous record: 7 days, 19 hours, 49 minutes, in which he covered 25,110 kilometres (15,600 mi).

Richarda Morrow-Tait became the first and still-youngest woman pilot to fly around the world, accompanied by navigator Michael Townsend, in a year and a day, from 18 August 1948 to 19 August 1949.

In 1949, the United States Air Force B-50 Superfortress Lucky Lady II made the first non-stop aerial circumnavigation in 94 hours and 1 minute. Four in-air refuelings were required for the flight, which covered 37,743 kilometres (23,452 mi).

Geraldine Mock, 1964, first woman to complete a solo aerial circumnavigation.

Don Taylor, 1976, first general aviation circumnavigation by homebuilt aircraft.

Dick Smith, 1982–1983, first solo circumnavigation by helicopter.

Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager, 1986, Voyager, first non-stop non-refueled circumnavigation in an airplane, 9 days, 3 minutes and 44 seconds.

In 1992 an Air France Concorde achieved the fastest non-orbital circumnavigation in 32 hours 49 minutes and 3 seconds.

Brian Milton, 1998, first microlight circumnavigation. He used an open-cockpit single engine Pegasus Quantum 912. No support aircraft escorted the flight. Keith Reynolds was copilot from Webridge, Surrey, to Yuzhno Sakhalinsk, Siberia. Then, as required by the Russian authorities, navigator Petr Petrov accompanied Milton to Nome, Alaska. Milton completed the rest of the 120-day-voyage solo (71 flying days).

Bertrand Piccard and Brian Jones, 1999, first non-stop balloon circumnavigation in Breitling Orbiter 3, 19 days, 1 hour and 49 minutes, covering 42,810 kilometres (26,600 mi).

Colin Bodill, 2000, first solo circumnavigation by a microlight (Mainair Blade) in 99 days. Also held fastest circumnavigation by microlight until broken. Bodill was part of an entourage of 4 aircraft, one of which carried supplies and support.

Polly Vacher, 2001, in the smallest aircraft flown in a solo circumnavigation by a woman, via Australia and the Pacific.

Steve Fossett, 2 July 2002, first solo balloon circumnavigation.

Steve Fossett, 3 March 2005, GlobalFlyer, first non-stop, non-refueled solo circumnavigation in an airplane, 67 hours, covering 37,000 kilometres (23,000 mi).

Steve Fossett, 11 February 2006, GlobalFlyer, longest non-stop, non-refueled solo flight (with circumnavigation) in an airplane, covering 42,469.5 kilometres (26,389.3 mi), in 76 hours and 45 minutes.

Barrington Irving, 27 June 2007, Inspiration, youngest solo circumnavigation in an airplane, at that time, 23 years, 228 days; first solo circumnavigation in an airplane by a black pilot and first Jamaican. Left Miami, Florida, March 23, 2007, first stop, Cleveland, Ohio.

Rahul Monga and Anil Kumar, 2007, fastest circumnavigation in a microlight, 79 days. Team from the Indian Air Force to commemorate the 75 Anniversary of the founding of the Indian Air Force. Aircraft used was a Flight Design CTSW. They covered 40,529 kilometres (25,184 mi) in a total flight time of 247 hours and 27 minutes.

Jack Wiegand, 2013, then youngest pilot to circumnavigate the globe, solo (21).

Amelia Rose Earhart joined by co-pilot Shane Jordon, completed a global circumnavigation flight on 11 July 2014.

Australian pilot Ryan Campbell completed a global circumnavigation flight on 7 September 2013 making him the then youngest person (19 year, 7 months, 25 days) to fly around the world.

Matt Guthmiller completed a global circumnavigation flight on 14 July 2014 making him the youngest person (19 years, 7 months, 15 days) to ever fly around the world.

Swiss pilots Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg took off from Abu Dhabi aboard the solar-powered airplane Solar Impulse 2 on 9 March 2015, and were originally scheduled to complete their circumnavigation of the Northern Hemisphere in five months. Due to battery damage, continuation of the flight has been postponed until April 2016. This circumnavigation was completed on 26 July 2016.

Robert DeLaurentis completed a global circumnavigation flight on 19 August 2015 - Single plane, single engine, single pilot, across the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans.

Fyodor Konyukhov, 23 July 2016, broke the record for the fastest circumnavigation of the world in a hot air balloon. He took "just over 11 days", breaking Steve Fossetts 2002 record of 13 and a half days.

Wang Zheng on September 19, 2016, completed a solo global circumnavigation in a single piston-engine aircraft and became the first Chinese person to fly solo around-the-world and the first Chinese female pilot to fly around the world.

Spacecraft

On 12 April 1961 Yuri Gagarin made the first human flight in space, and completed the first orbit of the Earth, in Vostok 1, in 108 minutes.

The second and third orbital circumnavigations, the first two to have multiple orbits, were made by Gherman Titov (17.5 orbits, a little over a day, for the Soviet Union) and John Glenn, in Friendship 7 (3 orbits, almost five hours, for the USA, first American orbital flight), respectively.

The first woman to circumnavigate the Earth in orbit, and to also do so multiple times, was Valentina Tereshkova, who made forty-eight orbits between 16 and 19 June 1963, aboard Vostok 6.

Frank F. Borman II, James A. Lovell Jr., and William A. Anders, 21–27 December 1968, first human circumnavigation of the Earth-Moon system, 10 orbits around the moon in about 20 hours, aboard Apollo 8; total trip to the moon and back was more than 6 Earth days.

Sally K. Ride, 18–24 June 1983, the first American woman to circumnavigate the Earth in orbit, the youngest American to date to do so (aged 32 years, 23 days), and the first American woman to do so multiple times; she flew 97 orbits during STS-7 aboard Space Shuttle Challenger.

Mixed transportation (including on foot and various other human powered)

King Kalākaua traveled around the world, over land and sea, thus becoming the first reigning monarch to complete such a journey in 1881.

Thomas Stevens was the first person to circle the globe by bicycle. The feat was accomplished between 1884 and 1886. While impressive at the time, a good portion of the trip was by steamer due to technical and political reasons.

Nellie Bly traveled around the world with public steamboats and trains in 72 days (from November 14, 1889 to January 25, 1890), a world record, resembling the Around the World in Eighty Days novel.

Dumitru Dan was the first person to have walked around the world, in 1910–1923 (he kept walking even on the boats' deck).

Clärenore Stinnes and Carl-Axel Söderström were the first persons to drive around the world in a car between 25 May 1927 and 24 June 1929.

Beginning in Montreal, Ben Carlin circumnavigated the world in a modified Ford GPA Jeep between 1950 and 1958, becoming the first person to circumnavigate the world by amphibious vehicle.

David Kunst walked around the world between 20 June 1970 and 10 October 1974.

Arthur Blessitt walked around the world carrying a 45 lb (20 kg) wooden cross, covering 38,102 miles (61,319 km) through 315 countries, between 1969 and 2008.

Heinz Stucke has been cycling around the world since 1962.

Sir Ranulph Fiennes, Charles Burton and their team circumnavigated 'vertically' via the two poles on the Transglobe Expedition.

Rick Hansen, a world-class paraplegic athlete, became the first person to travel around the world in a wheelchair on 22 May 1987, covering over 40,000 kilometres (25,000 mi) through 34 countries on four continents.

Robert Garside is credited by Guinness World Records as the first person to run around the world between 1997 and 2003, taking 2,062 days to cover 30,000 miles (48,000 km) across 29 countries and 6 continents.

Jesper Olsen travelled 26,000 kilometres (16,000 mi) in 2004, completed circumnavigation solely on foot (except for airplane or boats over the seas).

Colin Angus circumnavigated the northern hemisphere solely by human power in 2006 but did not qualify under the Guinness guidelines as a human powered circumnavigation. His attempt, however, was recognized by National Geographic.

Jason Lewis completed the first true human-powered circumnavigation of the globe in 2007, covering 46,505 miles (74,843 km) in both the southern and northern hemispheres and reaching two antipodal points, gaining accreditation from Guinness World Records and Adventurestats by Explorersweb.

Mark Beaumont broke the record for cycling around globe in 2008. He began his attempt on 5 August 2007 and completed the 18,297-mile (29,446 km) journey across 4 continents and 21 countries 194 days and 17 hours later on 15 February 2008.

Rosie Swale-Pope travelled 32,000 kilometres (20,000 mi) in 2008 completed circumnavigation solely on foot (except for airplane or boats over the seas).

Garry Sowerby holds four world records for circumnavigation in an automobile.

Erden Eruç completed the first solo human-powered circumnavigation traveling by rowboat, sea kayak, foot and bicycle from 10 July 2007 to 21 July 2012. Erden crossed the equator two times, passed over 12 pairs of antipodal points, and logged 66,299 kilometres (41,196 mi).

Vladimir Lysenko had circumnavigated the globe from west to east, deviating no more than two degrees of latitude from the Equator. Starting in Libreville (Gabon), Vladimir had successfully crossed (in a car, a motor boat, a yacht, a ship, a kayak, a bicycle, and by foot) Africa, Indian Ocean, Indonesia, Pacific Ocean, South America and Atlantic Ocean with finish in Libreville in 2012.

Seacraft

Phoenician expedition sent by Pharaoh Necho II; c. 600 BC; possibly circumnavigating Africa.

Roman Governor Gnaeus Julius Agricola; c. 80; first circumnavigation of Britain.

Jacques Cartier; 1534–1535; first circumnavigation of Newfoundland.

García de Nodal; 1619; first circumnavigation of Tierra del Fuego.

James Cook; 1769–1770; first circumnavigation of New Zealand.

Matthew Flinders; 1801–1803; first circumnavigation of Australia.[questionable; Abel Tasman already circumnavigated Australia during 1642-1643].

Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld; 1878–1879; first circumnavigation of Eurasia, via the Northeast Passage and the Suez Canal, during the Vega expedition.

RCMP St Roch; 1940–1942 and 1950; first vessel to circumnavigate North America. 1940–1942 Vancouver to Halifax, Nova Scotia, via the Northwest Passage. 1950, Halifax to Vancouver, via the Panama Canal.

HMCS Labrador (AW 50); 1954; first vessel to circumnavigate North America in a single voyage, via the Panama Canal.

USS Belmont; 1967; circumnavigated South America via the Panama Canal.

CCGS Hudson; 1970; first circumnavigation of North and South America.

Miles Clark; 1992; circumnavigation of Europe, going from the White Sea to the Black Sea through several Russian waterways.

Phoenicia (a replica of a Phoenician ship); 2009–2010; remade the possible circumnavigation of Africa, but completed the modern trip by going from Syria to the Red Sea via the Suez Canal.

Børge Ousland in the yacht Northern Passage July–October 2010 and Daniel Gavrilov in the yacht Peter I; June–November 2010; first circumnavigation of the Arctic in a single season. Ousland claims to have crossed his wake north of Bergen on 14 October; it's unclear when Gavrilov crossed his wake.

Matt Rutherford; June 2011-April 2012; first single-handed, non-stop 27,000 mi (43,000 km) sailing circumnavigation of the Americas, leaving from the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay, through the Northwest Passage, around Cape Horn, and back to the Chesapeake Bay. The Scott Polar Research Institute officially recognized Rutherford's 27 ft (8.2 m) sailboat as the smallest vessel to ever transit the Northwest Passage.

Fictional circumnavigations

Jules Verne's 1872 adventure novel, Around the World in Eighty Days describes a fictional circumnavigation. Upper class Englishman Phileas Fogg and his servant Passepartout use a variety of transportation means and ingenuity to accomplish the adventurous feat. The book is a tribute to the new transportation possibilities of the early Industrial Revolution, with the coming of steamships, railways, etc., before which a year was a more probable time for a circumnavigation. British actor Michael Palin attempted in 1988 to follow the route as closely as possible in his television series Around the World in 80 Days.