Early Explorers - 1300's and earlier
BRENDAN, SAINT (Ireland 484 or 486-578) also known as Saint Brendon, Brendan the Bold, and Brendan the Voyager; abbot; monastery founder; legendary sea voyager;
ERIC THE RED (Scandinavia 950?-1003 or 1004?) Viking explorer;
ERIKSSON, LEIF the Lucky (Norway 980?-1020?) Viking explorer;
HANNU ancient Egyptian explorer, around 2750 B.C; made the first recorded exploring expedition;
HERIOLF - one of the Viking settlers who sailed with Eric the Red in A.D. 986 and settled in the new colony that Eric established in Greenland;
HERJULFSSON, BJARNI - Icelandic explorer who was possibly the first European to see the continent of North America;
IBN BATTUTA, ABU ABDULLAH (Morocco 1303-1365)
explorer; travelled through Africa, the Middle East, and parts of the Far East;
QUIAN, ZHANG also called Chang Ch'ien (China?-114 BC)
explorer who travelled to the steppes of Central Asia;
POLO, MARCO (Italy 1254-1324) voyager; merchant; one of the first Europeans to travel across Asia through China, visiting the Kublai Khan;
SCYLAX of Caryanda was an ancient Greek explorer who explored the Middle East in C6th B.C.E.;
ZHANG QUIAN