Who completed the first circumnavigation of Earth’s oceans?

Juan Sebastián Elcano completed the first circumnavigation of Earth in 1522.

Elcano was a Basque navigator who joined Ferdinand Magellan’s expedition, which left Spain in 1519 seeking a westward route to the Spice Islands. Magellan led the fleet through the strait at the southern tip of South America and across the Pacific, but he was killed in the Philippines in 1521.

After Magellan’s death, Elcano took command of the surviving ship Victoria. He guided it westward across the Indian Ocean, around the Cape of Good Hope, and back to Spain. The Victoria arrived in Sanlúcar de Barrameda on 6 September 1522, carrying only a small portion of the original crew.

Magellan is often credited with the expedition because he initiated and led most of it, but he did not complete the voyage. Elcano was the expedition’s commander at the finish and is the person who completed the first circumnavigation.