Mbarak Mombée

Mbarak Mombée: An African Explorer Robbed of His Name

Kidnapped and sold into slavery, Mbarak Mombée was critical to the success of the most celebrated nineteenth-century European expeditions in Africa.
Ada Blackjack

Ada Blackjack’s Secret Weapon

Memories of her son helped Blackjack to become the sole survivor of an ill-fated expedition to Wrangel Island.
A Ship in a Rough Sea by Cornelisz Verbeecq, 1620s

Earthsickness At Sea

Early European circumnavigators thought that their long absence from land during sea voyages made them sick. (Spoiler alert: it was scurvy.)
The continent of Antarctica, circa 2006

Inventing Antarctica

We're only just getting to know "the Ice."
Matthew Alexander Henson, 1910

The First Black American to Reach the North Pole

Matthew Henson partnered with Robert Peary on seven Arctic adventures, but their final success brought an end to a longstanding collaboration.
Lady Florence Baker

Florence Baker, Unsung Survivor

Narrowly escaping slavery herself, Baker risked her life to repress the Saharan slave trade, sought the source of the Nile, and challenged Victorian social conventions.
The Wrangel Island Expedition team in 1921: Ada Blackjack, Allan Crawford, Lorne Knight, Fred Maurer, Milton Galle, and Victoria the cat.

Women in the Age of Polar Exploration

Opportunities were restricted during the so-called Heroic Age, but women still dreamed of exploration...and sometimes managed to reach the polar regions.
An illustration of a bathysphere, 1934

The New Oceanography: More Remote and More Inclusive

The days of celebrity oceanographers romancing the deep are gone, and maybe that’s a good thing.
William Dampier

William Dampier, Pirate Scientist

An oft-overlooked explorer who traversed the globe, driven by his thirst for scientific discovery—and a love of piracy.
Illustration of Ferdinand Magellan

The Pirate-y Life of Ferdinand Magellan

Magellan’s voyage in search of the “Spice Islands” was marked by storms, sharks, and scurvy—plus multiple attempts at mutiny.