Who was the first person to complete a circumnavigation of Earth?

Juan Sebastián Elcano was the first person to complete a circumnavigation of Earth.

Elcano took command of the Spanish expedition after Ferdinand Magellan was killed in the Philippines in 1521. The expedition’s surviving ship, Victoria, continued westward across the Indian Ocean and around the Cape of Good Hope, reaching Spain in 1522.

Magellan organized and began the voyage, but he did not complete it. Elcano and the crew of Victoria therefore hold the distinction for completing the first known circumnavigation. The voyage began in 1519 with five ships and returned with only Victoria.

The expedition demonstrated in practice that the oceans formed a connected global system, although Europeans already understood Earth to be spherical. The journey was extraordinarily difficult: disease, hunger, conflict, and ship losses reduced the original crew dramatically.