Which expedition became the first to circumnavigate the Earth?

The Magellan expedition became the first expedition to circumnavigate the Earth.

Ferdinand Magellan's fleet left Spain in 1519 to find a western route to the Spice Islands. Magellan was killed in the Philippines in 1521, so he did not complete the journey. Juan Sebastián Elcano took command of the remaining vessel, Victoria, which returned to Spain in September 1522.

The voyage demonstrated on a practical scale that the world's oceans were connected and that the Earth could be circumnavigated by sea. It also provided important geographical information, although the expedition suffered severe losses from disease, hunger, conflict, and difficult navigation.

Francis Drake later completed a circumnavigation from 1577 to 1580, becoming the first English captain to do so. Christopher Columbus's voyages crossed the Atlantic but never went around the planet, while James Cook's voyages took place centuries later.