Which expedition became the first to circumnavigate Earth, completed by Juan Sebastián Elcano in 1522?

The Magellan expedition became the first to circumnavigate Earth, completed by Juan Sebastián Elcano in 1522.

Ferdinand Magellan’s fleet left Spain in 1519 to find a westward route to the Spice Islands. Magellan was killed in the Philippines in 1521, so he did not personally complete the voyage. Elcano then commanded the surviving ship Victoria on the return journey.

The Victoria reached Spain in September 1522 with eighteen surviving crew members. The expedition demonstrated the global scale of Earth and provided Europeans with practical evidence about the vast Pacific Ocean. It is more precise to call this the first completed circumnavigation expedition rather than saying Magellan himself circumnavigated the world.