Which explorer completed the first expedition to circumnavigate the world in 1522?

Juan Sebastián Elcano completed the first expedition to circumnavigate the world in 1522.

The expedition began from Seville in 1519 under the command of Ferdinand Magellan, who sought a westward route to the Spice Islands. Magellan crossed the Atlantic and found the strait now bearing his name, then reached the Pacific Ocean. He was killed in the Philippines in 1521 before the voyage was finished.

Elcano, a Basque mariner, took command of the remaining ship, Victoria. He guided it westward across the Indian Ocean, around the Cape of Good Hope, and back to Spain in September 1522. Only Victoria returned, with 18 surviving crew members.

Magellan is often credited with the circumnavigation because he organized and began the expedition, but he did not complete it. Elcano’s return made him the first person to lead a ship all the way around the globe.