Which explorer led the first expedition to circumnavigate Earth, though he died before it ended?

Ferdinand Magellan led the first expedition to circumnavigate Earth, although he died before the voyage ended.

The Portuguese navigator commanded a Spanish expedition that departed in 1519 in search of a westward route to the Spice Islands. His fleet crossed the Atlantic, passed through the strait now called the Strait of Magellan, and entered the Pacific Ocean, which he named for its apparently calm waters.

Magellan was killed in the Philippines at the Battle of Mactan on April 27, 1521. Juan Sebastián del Cano then took command of the surviving ship Victoria, which returned to Spain in September 1522 with 18 men aboard.

Because Magellan did not complete the voyage, historians credit him with leading the expedition rather than personally circumnavigating Earth. The expedition provided the first recorded circumnavigation and demonstrated the immense scale of the Pacific.