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Francis Garnier

Francis Garnier

Marie Joseph François (Francis) Garnier (25 July 1835 - 21 December 1873) was a French officer and explorer known for his exploration of the Mekong River in Southeast Asia. He was born at St. Etienne. He entered the French Navy, and after voyaging in Brazilian waters and the Pacific he obtained a post on the staff of Admiral Charner, who from 1860 to 1862 was campaigning in Cochin China. After some time spent in France he returned to the East, and in 1862 he was appointed inspector of the natives in Cochin China, and entrusted with the administration of Cho-lon, a suburb of Saigon. It was at his suggestion that the marquis de Chasseloup-Laubat determined to send a mission to explore the valley of the Mekong River, but as Garnier was not considered old enough to be put in command, the chief authority was entrusted to Captain Ernest Doudard de Lagrée. In the course of the expedition - to quote the words of Sir Roderick Murchison addressed to the youthful traveller when, in 1870, he was presented with the Victoria Medal of the Royal Geographical Society of London - "from Kratie in Cambodia to Shanghai 5392 mi were traversed, and of these 3625 mi, chiefly of country unknown to European geography, were surveyed with care, and the positions fixed by astronomical observations, nearly the whole of the observations being taken by Garnier himself". Volunteering to lead a detachment to Talifu, the capital of Sultan Suleiman, the sovereign of the Muslim rebels in Yunnan, he successfully carried out the more-than-adventurous enterprise. When shortly afterwards Lagree died, Garnier naturally assumed the command of the expedition, and he conducted it in safety to the Yangtze River (Chang Jiang), and thus to the Chinese coast. On his return to France he was received with enthusiasm. The preparation of his narrative was interrupted by the Franco-Prussian War, and during the siege of Paris he served as principal staff officer to the admiral in command of the eighth sector. His experiences during the siege were published anonymously in the feuilleton of Le Temps, and appeared separately as Le Siege de Paris, journal d'un officier de marine (1871). Returning to Cochin China he found the political circumstances of the country unfavourable to further exploration, and accordingly he went to China, and in 1873 followed the upper course of the Yangtze River to the waterfalls. He was next commissioned by Admiral Dupré, governor of Cochin China, to found a French protectorate or a new colony in Tonkin. On 20 November 1873 he took Hanoi, the capital of Tonkin, but a month later he was slain in a fight with the Black Flags. Garnier's chief fame rests on the fact that he originated the idea of exploring the Mekong, and carried out the larger portion of the work. In 1943, French Indochina issued a postage stamp honoring Garnier.

See also


- Henri Rivière

References


- Milton Osborne, River Road to China: The Search for the Source of the Mekong, 1866-73 (Atlantic Monthly Press, 1999) ISBN 0871137526
- Milton Osborne, "Francis Garnier (1839-1873), Explorer of the Mekong River", Explorers of South-east Asia, Six Lives, ed. Victor T. King, (Kuala Lumpur: OUP, 1995)
- Milton Osborne, River Road to China: The Mekong River Expedition, 1866-1873 (London and New York, 1975)
- The narrative of the principal expedition appeared in 1873, as Voyage d'exploration en Indo-Chine effectue pendant les annees 1866, 1867 et 1868, publie sous la direction de M. Francis Gamier, avec le concours de M. Delaporte et de MM. Joubert et Thorel (2 vols.) Only 800 copies were printed, and the original work is now rare.
- Transl. Walter E. J. Tips:
  - Travels in Cambodia and Part of Laos: the Mekong Exploration Commission report (1866-1868), volume 1 (White Lotus Press, 1996)
  - A pictorial journey on the old Mekong: Cambodia, Laos and Yunnan: the Mekong Exploration Commission report (1866-1868), volume 3 (White Lotus Press, 1998)
- An account of the Yang-tsze-Kiang from Garnier's pen is given in the Bulletin de la Soc. de Geog. (1874).
- His Chronique royale du Cambodje, was reprinted from the Journal Asiatique in 1872.
- Ocean Highways (1874) for a memoir by Colonel Yule
- Hugh Clifford, Further India, in the Story of Exploration series (1904). Garnier, Francis Garnier, Francis Garnier, Francis Garnier, Francis

1835

1835 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar).

Events


- January 1 – Ole Pedersen Hoiland breaks into the Bank of Norway and steals 64.000 dollars
- January 7 - HMS Beagle anchors off the Chonos Archipelago.
- January 30 - Unsuccessful assassination attempt against President Andrew Jackson in the United States Capitol - first assassination attempt against a President of the United States.
- February 20 - Concepción, Chile is destroyed by an earthquake
- March 2 - Ferdinand becomes Emperor of Austria.
- April 18 - Lord Melbourne succeeds Sir Robert Peel as British Prime Minister.
- The Australian city of Melbourne is founded by John Batman and John Pascoe Fawkner.
- May 5 - In Belgium a railway is opened between Brussels and Mechelen. It is the first railway in continental Europe.
- May 6 - James Gordon Bennett, Sr. publishes the first issue of the New York Herald.
- June 2 - P.T. Barnum and his circus begins first tour of the U.S.
- July 4 - The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad completed construction of its Thomas Viaduct then the longest bridge in the United States, and second only to London Bridge in the world.
- August 25 - The Great Moon Hoax begins.
- September 7 – Charles Darwin arrives at Galapagos Islands aboard HMS Beagle
- October 2 - Texas Revolution begins: Battle of Gonzales - Mexican soldiers attempt to disarm the people of Gonzales, Texas but encounter stiff resistance from a hastily assembled militia.
- November 16 - Comet Halley reaches perihelion, it's closest approach to the sun.
- December 1 - Hans Christian Andersen publishes first book of fairy tales
- December 7 - First German Railway between Nürnberg and Fürth named "der Adler" (The Eagle)
- December 9 - The Army of the Republic of Texas captures San Antonio.
- December 16 - Fire in New York City destroys 530 buildings
- December 19 - Toledo Blade newspaper begins publishing.
- December 28 - Seminole chief Osceola and his warriors attack government agent Thompson outside Fort King in Central Florida - it means the outbreak of the Second Seminole War

Month/day unknown


- The Toledo War was fought between the State of Ohio and the Michigan Territory over the city of Toledo and the Toledo Strip.
- De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestum, Copernicus' book on the motion of the Earth, is removed from the Index of Prohibited Books.
- Samuel Colt patents the first revolver
- Civil war erupts in Uruguay between supporters of Blanco and Colorado parties
- Cachar Levy, forerunner of Assam Rifles, is founded in India
- The first Bulgarian-language school opens in the Ottoman Empire.
- The French word for their language changes to français, from françois
- Independent Order of Rechabites founded as part of temperance movement in U.S.

Births


- February 13 - Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, Punjabi Muslim reformer (d. 1908)
- February 15 - Demetrius Vikelas, Greek International Olympic Committee president (d. 1908)
- February 18 - César Cui, Lithuanian composer (d. 1918)
- March 14 - Giovanni Schiaparelli, Italian astronomer (d. 1910)
- March 15 - Eduard Strauss, Austrian composer (d. 1916)
- March 24 - Jožef Stefan, Slovenian physicist, mathematician, and poet (d. 1893)
- April 9 - King Léopold II of Belgium (d. 1909)
- May 3 - Alfred Austin, English poet (d. 1913)
- June 2 - Pope Pius X (d. 1914)
- July 7 - Ernest Giles, Australian explorer (d. 1897)
- July 10 - Henryk Wieniawski, Polish composer
- July 27 - Giosue Carducci, Italian writer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1907)
- August 2 - Elisha Gray, American inventor and businessman (d. 1901)
- October 7 - Felix Draeseke, German composer (d. 1913)
- October 9 - Camille Saint-Saëns, French composer (d. 1921)
- October 23 - Adlai E. Stevenson, Vice President of the United States (d. 1914)
- October 31 - Adolf von Baeyer, German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1917)
- November 17 - Andrew L. Harris, American Civil War hero and Governor of Ohio (d. 1915)
- November 19 - Rani Lakshmi Bai, Indian freedom fighter (d. 1858)
- November 21 - Hetty Green, American businesswoman (d. 1916)
- November 25 - Andrew Carnegie, American industrialist and philanthropist (d. 1919)
- November 29 - Empress Dowager Cixi of China (d. 1908)
- November 30 - Mark Twain, American author and humorist (d. 1910)
- December 4 - Samuel Butler, English writer (d. 1902)
- December 18 - Lyman Abbott, American clergyman and author (d. 1922)

Deaths


- February 15 - Henry Hunt, British politician (b. 1773)
- March 2 - Emperor Francis I of Austria (b. 1768)
- March 18 - Christian Gunther von Bernstorff, Danish and Prussian statesman and diplomat (b. 1769)
- April 8 - Wilhelm von Humboldt, German linguist and philosopher (b. 1767)
- April 21 - Samuel Slater, American industrialist (b. 1768)
- May 13 - John Nash, English architect (b. 1752)
- June 18 - William Cobbett, English journalist and author (b. 1763)
- July 28 - Édouard Adolphe Casimir Joseph Mortier, French marshal (b. 1768)
- September 23 - Vincenzo Bellini, Italian composer (b. 1801) Category:1835 ko:1835년 ms:1835 simple:1835 th:พ.ศ. 2378

1873

1873 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calaber).

Events

January - April


- January 71 - Indian Wars: First Battle of the Stronghold during the Modoc War.
- February 11 - Spanish Cortes deposes King Amadeus I and proclaims the First Spanish Republic.
- February 12 - Former foreign minister Emilio Cistelar y Ripoli becomes prime minister of the new Spanish Republic.
- February 20 - The University of California opens its first medical school in San Francisco, California
- March 1 - E. Remington and Sons of Ilion, New York start production of the first practical typewriter.
- March 3 - Censorship: The U.S. Congress enacts the Comstock Law, making it illegal to send any "obscene, lewd, or lascivious" books through the mail.
- April 1 - The British steamer SS Atlantic sinks off Nova Scotia killing 547.
- April 15 - 17 - Indian Wars: Second Battle of the Stronghold

May - August


- May 9 Der Krach: Vienna stock market crash heralds Long Depression
- May 23 - The Canadian Parliament establishes the North West Mounted Police (which will be renamed the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in 1920).
- June 4 - Indian Wars: The Modoc War ends with the capture of Captain Jack.
- July 1 - Prince Edward Island joins the Canadian Confederation.
- July 21 - At Adair, Iowa, Jesse James and the James-Younger gang pull off the first successful train robbery in the American West (US$3,000 from the Rock Island Express).
- August 4 - Indian Wars: While protecting a railroad survey party in Montana, the Seventh Cavalry, under Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer, clash for the first time with the Sioux (near the Tongue River; only one man on each side is killed).

September - December


- September 16 - German troops leave France upon completion of payment of indemnity for Franco-Prussian War.
- September 18 - New York stock market crash.
- November 6 - Formation of the Halifax Rugby Club.
- November 7 - Alexander Mackenzie becomes Canada's second prime minister.
- November 17 - From Pest, Buda and Óbuda, Budapest, Hungary's capital is formed.
- December 15 - Women of Fredonia, New York march against the retail liquor dealers in town to inaugurate the Woman's Crusade of 1873-74. This led to the creation of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union.

Unknown date


- Toronto Argonauts are founded. The oldest pro sports team still playing in North America.
- Rangers F.C. are founded. Rangers go on to be the most successful club in the world in terms of trophies won.
- The United Kingdom declares war against Ghana's King Kofi KariKari, who was involved in the trading of slaves. The war ended by July and the British established the Gold Coast Colony.
- Coors Brewing Company begins making beer in Golden, Colorado.
- DDT first synthesized.
- Swedish arms company Bofors is incorporated.
- In Mexico, Veracruz to Mexico City railroad completed.
- Royal Montreal Club in Montreal, Quebec is founded, becoming the first permanent golf club in North America.
- Henry Rose exhibits barbed wire at an Illinois county fair, which is taken up by Joseph Glidden and Jacob Haish, who invent a machine to mass-produce it.
- Britain puts pressure on Sultan Barghash Sayyid who closes slave markets in Zanzibar
- Peter Tchaikovsky composes The Tempest
- First running of the Preakness Stakes horse race in Baltimore, Maryland
- SUN was founded
- Womans Temperance League organized by Eliza Daniel Stewart

Births

January-March


- January 7 - Adolph Zukor, Austrian-born film studio pioneer (d. 1976)
- January 10 - George Orton, Canadian athlete (d. 1958)
- January 12 - Spiridon Louis, Greek runner (d. 1940)
- January 20 - Johannes Vilhelm Jensen, Danish writer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1950)
- January 28 - Colette, French writer (d. 1954)
- February 2 - Maurice Tourneur, French film director (d. 1961)
- February 3 - Karl Jatho, German aviation pioneer (d. 1933)
- February 4 - Étienne Desmarteau, Canadian athlete (d. 1905)
- February 13 - Feodor Chaliapin, Russian bass (d. 1938)
- February 15 - Hans von Euler-Chelpin, German-born chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1964)
- February 25 - Enrico Caruso, Italian tenor (d. 1921)
- March 3 - William Green, American labor leader (d. 1952)
- March 11 - David Horsley, English-born film executive (d. 1933)
- March 19 - Max Reger, German composer (d. 1916)

April-June


- April 1 - Sergei Rachmaninoff, Russian composer and pianist (d. 1943)
- April 7 - John McGraw, baseball player and manager (d. 1934)
- April 10 - Kyösti Kallio, Prime Minister and President of Finland (d. 1940)
- April 19 - Sydney Barnes, English cricketer (d. 1967)
- April 22 - Ellen Glasgow, American writer (d. 1945)
- May 4 - Joe De Grasse, Canadian film director (d. 1940)
- May 9 - Anton Cermak, Mayor of Chicago (d. 1933)
- May 17 - Henri Barbusse, French novelist and journalist (d. 1935)
- May 17 - Dorothy Richardson, English feminist writer (d. 1957)
- May 28 - D.D. Sheehan, Irish politician (d. 1948)
- June 3 - Otto Loewi, German-born pharmacologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1961)
- June 26 - Alexis Carrel, French surgeon and biologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1944)

July-September


- July 1 - Alice Guy-Blaché, French-American filmmaker (d. 1968)
- July 20 - Alberto Santos-Dumont, Brazilian aviation pioneer (d. 1932)
- August 26 - Lee De Forest, American inventor (d. 1961)
- September 5 - Cornelius Vanderbilt III, American military officer, inventor, engineer (d. 1942)
- September 8 - David O. McKay, president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (d. 1970)
- September 20 - Sidney Olcott, pioneer film director (d. 1949)
- September 20 - Ferenc Szisz, Hungarian-born race car driver (d. 1944)
- September 21 - Papa Jack Laine, jazz musician (d. 1966)

October-December


- October 14 - Ray Ewry, American athlete (d. 1937)
- October 19 - Jaap Eden, Dutch skater and cyclist (d. 1925)
- October 26 - Thorvald Stauning, Prime Minister of Denmark (d. 1942)
- November 16 - W.C. Handy, American blues composer (d. 1958)
- November 22 - Johnny Tyldesley, English cricketer (d. 1930)
- December 7 - Willa Cather, American novelist (d. 1947)
- December 11 - Josip Plemelj, Slovenian mathematician (d. 1967)
- December 17 - Ford Maddox Ford, English writer (d. 1939)
- December 26 - Thomas Wass, Nottinghamshire bowler (d. 1953)
- December 30 - Al Smith, American politician (d. 1944)

Unknown


- Leon Czolgosz, assassin of U.S. President William McKinley (d.1901)
- William Ernest Hocking, American philosopher (d. 1966)

Deaths


- January 9 - Napoleon III, last Emperor of France (b. 1808)
- January 18 - Edward George Bulwer-Lytton, English writer (b. 1803
- January 20 - Fr. Basil Anthony Mary Moreau, religious leader
- February 7 - Sheridan Le Fanu, Irish writer (b. 1814)
- March 10 - John Torrey, American botanist (b. 1796)
- April 11 - Edward Canby, U.S. general (b. 1817)
- May 6 - José Antonio Páez, first President of Venezuela (b. 1790)
- May 8 - John Stuart Mill, British philosopher (b. 1806)
- May 20 - Sir George-Étienne Cartier, Canadian statesman (b. 1814)
- June 1 - Joseph Howe, Canadian politician (b. 1804)
- September 17 - Alexander Berry, Scottish adventurer and Australian pioneer (b. 1781)
- September 22 - Friedrich Frey-Herosé, member of the Swiss Federal Council (b. 1801)
- September 23 - Jean Chacornac, French astronomer (b. 1823)
- December 14 - Louis Agassiz, Swiss-American geologist and naturalist (b. 1807)
- Tekle Giyorgis II of Ethiopia, deposed Emperor of Ethiopia (ruled 1868 - 1872) Category:1873 ko:1873년 ms:1873 simple:1873 th:พ.ศ. 2416

List of explorers

:Expedition redirects here. See also explorations, sea explorers, astronaut, conquistador, travelogue, the History of Science and Technology and Biography. Also, see International Space Station for ISS explorers, and for the Ford Motor Company's large SUV, see Ford Expedition (especially replacing the Ford Excursion). For the science-fiction book, see Expedition (book). __NOTOC__

A


- Antonio de Abreu (16th century Portuguese explorer of Indonesia)
- Charles Albanel (1616-1696), Canada
- Afonso de Albuquerque (16th century Portuguese naval explorer and viceroy of India)
- Pêro de Alenquer (15th century Portuguese explorer of the African coast)
- Benedict Allen, (1960-), modern day British explorer
- Diego de Almagro
- Francisco de Almeida (16th century Portuguese naval explorer and viceroy of India)
- Pedro de Alvarado
- Francisco Alvarez (16th century Portuguese missionary and explorer in Ethiopia)
- Jorge Álvares (16th century Portuguese, the first to reach China)
- Roald Amundsen, (1872-1928), Norwegian, first at the South Pole, first to navigate the Northwest Passage in a single ship
- Fernão Pires de Andrade (16th century Portuguese merchant in China)
- Salomon August Andrée (1854 – 1897) Swedish, Arctic explorer
- Roy Chapman Andrews, (1884-1960), US explorer
- Diogo de Azambuja (15th century Portuguese explorer of the African coast)

B


- George Back, (1796—1878), British naval officer, several expeditions to the Canadian Arctic
- William Baffin, (1584-1622)
- Samuel Baker, Africa
- Vasco Núñez de Balboa, (c. 1475-1519), Spanish, first to sight the Pacific Ocean, founded Darién, oldest surviving European settlement in the South American continent.
- Pêro de Barcelos (15th century/16th century Portuguese explorer of North America)
- Willem Barents, (1550?-1597), Dutch, died on Novaya Zemlya Northeast Passage
- Heinrich Barth (1821-1865), Northern and Central Africa
- Robert Bartlett (1875-1946), notable Arctic explorer
- George Bass - Australian explorer
- Abu Abdullah Muhammad Ibn Battuta, (1304?-1377?), Moroccan Berber Muslim, visited Mecca several times, travelled to Central Asia, East Africa, China, Tombouctou and other places
- Nicolas Baudin - 18th century French explorer, mapped the West Australian coastline.
- Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen, Russian explorer
- Joseph René Bellot French Arctic explorer
- Moric Benovsky, Slovak
- Vitus Bering
- W T Blake The man who led the first attempt to fly round the world in 1922
- Vittorio Bottego (1860,1897), Italian explorer of the Giuba region in northeast Africa
- Pierre Savorgan de Brazza Italian explorer naturalized French. French Congo's founder.
- Saint Brendan - Irish abbot who sailed the Atlantic Ocean
- James Bruce
- William S. Bruce, (1867-1921) Scottish explorer of Antarctica
- Cornelis de Bruijn, (1652-1727), Dutch traveler and artist
- Lafayette Bunnell, (1824-1903), described Yosemite Valley
- Richard Francis Burton, (1821-1890), looking for the source of the Nile, discovered Lake Tanganyika
- Richard E. Byrd, (1888-1957), flew over South Pole

C


- John Cabot (Giovanni Caboto), (c. 1450 – 1499), Italian navigator in English service, crossed the Atlantic Ocean to North America
- Pedro Álvares Cabral, (c. 1467-c. 1520), Portuguese navigator, discovered Brazil and Madagascar
- João Rodrigues Cabrilho (16th century Portuguese discoverer of California)
- Alvise Cadamosto (1432-1488), Portuguese explorer of Venetian origin
- Alvaro Caminha (15th century Portuguese explorer of the Atlantic islands)
- Pêro Vaz de Caminha (15th century Portuguese explorer of the sea route to Brazil)
- Diogo Cão, (15th century), Portuguese navigator, explored the area around the West African coast
- Jan Carstensz, (c.1595—?), Dutch explorer of New Guinea coast, navigated the Gulf of Carpentaria in 1623
- Jacques Cartier, (1491-1557), discovered the St. Lawrence River and sailed up it to Montreal; failed in an attempt to set up a colony
- Thomas Cavendish, (died 1592), English sailor and explorer.
- Samuel de Champlain, (c. 1567-1635), established the French colony in Canada; discovered the Great Lakes
- William Clark, (1770-1838), with Meriwether Lewis led the first American expedition to reach the west coast.
- Gonçalo Coelho (15th century/16th century Portuguese explorer of the South American coast)
- Nicolau Coelho (15th century Portuguese explorer of the sea route to Brazil)
- Christopher Columbus, (1451-1506), reached America looking for a searoute to the Indies; discovered various lands and islands and established a colony on Hispaniola
- Niccolò Da Conti, (1395–1469), Venetian explorer of South and Southeast Asia
- James Cook, (1728-1779), explored the Pacific, discovering or mapping many lands and islands
- Francisco Vasquez de Coronado, (c. 1510-1554), explored New Mexico and American southwest
- João Vaz Corte-Real (15th century Portuguese explorer of North America)
- Gaspar Corte-Real (16th century Portuguese explorer of North America)
- Miguel Corte-Real (16th century Portuguese explorer of North America)
- Hernán Cortés, (1485-1547), conquered the Aztec empire in Mexico; sent out expeditions to Baja California
- Juan de la Cosa
- Jacques-Yves Cousteau, (1910-1997), French marine biologist and explorer
- Gago Coutinho and Sacadura Cabral (20th century Portuguese air pioneers, the first to cross the South Atlantic Ocean by air)
- Pero da Covilhã (15th century/16th century Portuguese diplomat and explorer in Ethiopia)
- Tristão da Cunha (16th century Portuguese naval general and discoverer)

D


- Alexandra David-Néel, (1868-1969), French explorer, visited Lhasa, Tibet in 1924
- Semyon Dezhnev, Russian explorer, first European who sailed through Bering Strait
- Bartolomeu Dias, (1450-1500), Portuguese explorer who first rounded the Cape of Good Hope
- Dinis Dias, 15th century Portuguese explorer, first European to reach Cape Verde
- Diogo Dias (15th century Portuguese explorer of the Atlantic islands, of the African coast and the Indian Ocean, discovered Madagascar)
- Pêro Dias (15th century Portuguese explorer of the African coast)
- Bernal Díaz del Castillo
- David Douglas, Scottish explorer, botanist
- Sir Francis Drake, (c. 1540-1596), pirate, leader of the second circumnavigation
- Jules Dumont d'Urville, (1790-1842), explorer of the Pacific and Antarctica

E


- Gil Eanes (15th century Portuguese explorer of the African coast)
- Juan Sebastián Elcano - completed the first circumnavigation, started by Magellan
- Eric the Red, (c.950-1003), explored and colonized Greenland
- Leif Ericson, (born 970), attempted to colonize Vinland, discovered America
- Pedro Escobar (15th century Portuguese explorer of the Atlantic islands)
- George Everest, (1790-1866)

F


- Edmund Fanning, (1769-1841), "Pathfinder of the Pacific", discoverer of numerous South Pacific islands
- António Fernandes (15th century Portuguese explorer of the African coast)
- Baltazar Fernandes (17th century Portuguese explorer of Brazil's interior)
- Duarte Fernandes (16th century Portuguese diplomat in Thailand)
- Matthew Flinders, (1774-1814), first to circumnavigate Australia and Tasmania, extensively charted the coastline and named such features as the Great Barrier Reef and the Great Australian Bight.
- Alexander Forbes, Scottish explorer of North American Pacific coast
- John Franklin, (1786-1847), disappeared exploring Arctic Canada in search of the Northwest Passage
- John C. Fremont, (1813-1890), "Pathfinder of the West" explored the Oregon Trail and the Sierra Nevada, first Republican nominee for President of the United States
- Louis de Freycinet, (1779-1842), explored coastal regions of Western Australia

G


- Alfons Gabriel, (1892-1976) Austrian explorer of the Iranian deserts.
- Yuri Gagarin first man in Space and Cosmonaut
- Juan Galindo (1802-1839) explorer of Central American ruins
- Estevão da Gama (16th century Portuguese explorer of the Indian Ocean)
- Paulo da Gama (15th century Portuguese explorer of the sea route to India)
- Vasco da Gama, (1469?-1524), Portuguese navigator, first to reach India from Europe by sea route in 1498
- Thomas Gann, explorer
- Francis Garnier, (1839-1873), Mekong River
- Pierre Gaultier de Varennes et de la Vérendrye, (1685-1749), explorer
- Romolo Gessi ( (1831, 1881)), Italian explorer of the Nile and of Sudan
- Ernest Giles, (1835-1897), explorer of central Australia
- André Gonçalves (15th century Portuguese explorer of the sea route to Brazil)
- Antão Gonçalves (15th century Portuguese explorer of the West African coast)
- Lopes Gonçalves (15th century Portuguese explorer of the Atlantic)
- James Augustus Grant, (1827-1892), Scottish officer and explorer, explored the eastern equatorial Africa
- João Grego (15th century Portuguese explorer of the African coast)
- Juan de Grijalva

H


- Hanno the Navigator - Carthageinian who travelled along the coast of Africa
- Hannu, ancient Egyptian explorer (around 2750 BC) and the first explorer of whom there is any knowledge
- Dirk Hartog, (1580—1621), Dutch VOC captain, charted mid-western coast of Australia
- Sven Hedin, (1865-1952), Swedish explorer of Central Asia
- Louis Hennepin - discoverer of Niagara Falls and the Saint Anthony Falls (the only waterfall on the Mississippi)
- Bjarni Herjulfsson - Viking, probable discoverer of North America
- Thor Heyerdahl, (1914-2002), Norwegian explorer
- Sir Edmund Hillary, with Tenzing Norgay was the first person to the summit of Mount Everest
- Himilco the Navigator, Carthaginian navigator
- Clement Hodgkinson - (1818-1893) Australian explorer
- Cornelis de Houtman, (1565—1599), brother to Frederick, established Dutch trading route to the Spice Islands
- Frederick de Houtman, (1571—1627), brother to Cornelis, charted several constellations in the southern skies, explored coast of Western Australia
- William Hovell - Australian explorer
- Henry Hudson, (died 1570), discovered the Hudson River and sailed up it to Albany, discovered Hudson Bay
- Alexander von Humboldt, (1769-1859), German naturalist, explored Central and South America, visited Siberia
- Hamilton Hume - Australian explorer

I


- Ibn Battuta, (1304-1377), Moroccan explorer of Africa and Asia, author of the Rihla
- Ibn Rustah, 10th century Persian explorer of Russia, Scandinavia and Arabia
- João Infante (15th century Portuguese explorer of the African coast)
- Helge Ingstad, (1899-2001) Norwegian-Danish explorer, Governor of Greenland

K


- Thorfinn Karlsefni, (fl 1010), Icelandic explorer
- George Kennan, (1845-1924), Siberia
- Edmund Kennedy, (1818-1848), Australian explorer
- Ferdinand Konščak, (1703-1759), Croatia, California, Mexico
- Pyotr Kuzmich Kozlov (1863-1935), Mongolia and Tibet

L


- Richard Lemon Lander (1804-1834)
- Jean François La Pérouse, (1741-1788), French explorer of the Pacific
- René Robert Cavelier, Sieur de la Salle, (1643-1687), French explorer of the Mississippi basin
- João Fernandes Lavrador (15th century/16th century Portuguese explorer of North America)
- Albert von Le Coq, (1860-1930), German explorer of Central Asia
- John Ledyard, (1751-1789), American explorer of Russia and sailor with Captain James Cook
- Miguel López de Legaspi, Spanish explorer of the Philippines and Mexico
- Ludwig Leichhardt, (1813-1848), Prussian explorer of Australia
- Gaspar de Lemos (15th century/16th century Portuguese explorer of the Atlantic and of the sea route to Brazil)
- Dragutin Lerman, (1863-1918), Croatia, (Congo, Africa)
- Meriwether Lewis, (1774-1809), leader of the first American expedition to cross the continent
- David Livingstone, (1813-1873), Scottish explorer of south and east Africa, determined the course of the Zambezi, discovered Lake Nyasa

M


- Alexander Mackenzie, (1764-1820), Scottish, Western and Northern Canada to Arctic and Pacific Oceans
- Ferdinand Magellan, (c. 1470-1521), Portuguese navigator, leader of first expedition around the world and the first European to have sailed the Pacific Ocean
- Teoberto Maler (1840-1917) Maya ruins
- Lourenço Marques (16th century Portuguese trader and explorer in East Africa)
- Álvaro Martins (15th century Portuguese explorer of the African coast)
- Pedro Mascarenhas (16th century Portuguese explorer of the Indian Ocean)
- Douglas Mawson - Australian explorer of Antarctica
- Hugh McNeil, Lewis and Clark Party member
- Álvaro de Mendaña
- Archibald Menzies (1754-1852)
- Thomas Mitchell - (1792-1855), Scottish explorer of Australia

N


- Fridtjof Nansen, (1861-1930), arctic explorer, scientist and international statesman
- Nehsi, ancient Egyptian explorer in service of Egyptian queen Hatshepsut
- Jean Nicolet, (1628-1642), early French explorer of the Old Northwest
- Joseph Nicollet, (1786-1843), explorer of the Upper Mississippi River and Missouri River
- Afanasiy Nikitin (the first European to visit India and to document his travels)
- António Noli (15th century Portuguese explorer of the Atlantic islands and of the African coast)
- Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld, (1832-1901), arctic explorer
- Fernão de Noronha (15th century/16th century Portuguese explorer of the Atlantic)
- João da Nova (16th century Portuguese explorer of the Atlantic and of the Indian Ocean)
- Paulo Dias de Novais (16th century Portuguese explorer and colonizer of Africa)
- Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca

O


- Francisco de Orellana - first to navigate down the Amazon River
- John Oxley - Australian explorer

P


- Mungo Park (1771-1806), Scottish explorer of Western Equatorial Africa
- William Parry, (1790-1855), Arctic explorer
- Robert Edwin Peary, (1856-1920), notable Arctic explorer and leader of expedition usually credited as being first to reach the North Pole, actual attainment disputed in some quarters
- Paul Pelliot, French explorer of Central Asia
- Duarte Pacheco Pereira (15th century Portuguese explorer of the Atlantic)
- Bartolomeu Perestrelo (15th century Portuguese explorer of the Atlantic islands)
- Auguste Piccard, (1884-1962), physicist and explorer
- Jacques Piccard, (born 1922), undersea explorer
- Zebulon Pike, (1779-1813), explored Louisiana Purchase, Pikes Peak
- Alonso Alvarez de Pineda, (1494?-1519?)
- Serpa Pinto (19th century Portuguese explorer and soldier in Africa)
- Fernão Mendes Pinto (16th century Portuguese explorer and adventurer, was among the first Europeans to reach Japan)
- Martin Alonzo Pinzón (1441?-1493)
- Vicente Yáñez Pinzón (1460? - after 1523)
- Luís Pires (15th century Portuguese explorer of the sea route to Brazil)
- Francisco Pizarro, (1471-1541), conqueror of the Inca Empire
- Fernão do Pó (15th century Portuguese explorer of the African coast)
- Marco Polo, (1254-1323), Venetian Republic, travelled to China in the 13th century
- Peter Pond, (c. 1739 - 1807), Northwest Canada
- Gaspar de Portolà (fl. 1734-1784), explored California
- John Wesley Powell, (1834-1902), explorer, environmentalist
- Nathaniel Pryor, (c. 1785-1850), US explorer
- Nikolai Przhevalsky, (1839-1888), Russian explorer in central and eastern Asia
- Pytheas, Greek explorer who visited Britain and other north and northwest European countries

Q


- Pedro Fernandes de Queiroz (1565-1614), Portuguese seaman and explorer of the southwest Pacific, some have claimed he discovered Australia

R


- John Rae, (1813-1893), travelled widely through the Canadian Arctic
- Walter Raleigh, (1554?-1618), English explorer
- Diogo Rodrigues (16th century Portuguese explorer of the Indian Ocean)
- Cândido Rondon, (1865-1958), Explored the Amazon Basin with Teddy Roosevelt
- James Clark Ross, (1800-1862), Scottish explorer

S


- René Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, (1643-1687) French merchant and explorer, explored Great Lakes, navigated Mississippi and looked for its delta
- João de Santarém (15th century Portuguese explorer of the Atlantic islands)
- Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa
- Robert Falcon Scott, (1868-1912), reached the South Pole less than one month after Amundsen, but died on the return voyage
- Scylax of Caryanda - a Greek explorer sent by the king of Persia to sail down the Indus River and around Arabia to Egypt
- Tibor Sekelj Croatia, South America
- Mirko Seljan (1821-1912?(3)), Croatia,( Ethiopia, South America)
- Stjepan Seljan (1873-1936), Croatia, (Ethiopia, South America)
- Ernest Shackleton, (1874-1922), attempted to reach the South Pole and went further south than anyone before him
- Eric Shipton, (1907-1977), explored Himalayas & Patagonian icecap with Harold William Tilman
- Diogo Silves (15th century Portuguese explorer of the Atlantic islands)
- Pêro de Sintra (15th century Portuguese explorer of the African coast)
- William Smith (born around 1775), discovered South Shetland Islands
- Hernando de Soto, (died 1542), explorer
- Martim Afonso de Sousa (16th century Portuguese explorer and soldier in India)
- John Hanning Speke, (1827-1864), discovered the main source of the Nile River, Lake Victoria
- William Stairs, (1863-1892), Victorian explorer, discovered one source of the Nile River, first non-African to ever climb in the Ruwenzori.
- Henry Morton Stanley, (1841-1904), successfully searched for Livingstone in Africa; later explored Lake Victoria, Lake Tanganyika and the Congo River
- Marc Aurel Stein, Hungarian explorer of Central Asia
- John Lloyd Stephens (1805-1852) explored Middle East, Central America
- Sir Paul Edmund Strzelecki, (1793-1873), Polish explorer and geologist
- John McDouall Stuart (1815-1866), Scottish explorer of inland Australia
- Charles Sturt - Australian explorer
- Ignacije Szentmartony (1718-1793), Croatia (Jesuit, astronomer), Amazon River, Brazil

T


- Abel Tasman, (1603-1659), discovered Tasmania and New Zealand
- Pedro Teixeira (17th century Portuguese explorer of the Amazon river)
- Tristão Vaz Teixeira (15th century Portuguese explorer of the Atlantic islands)
- Tenzing Norgay, with Sir Edmund Hillary was the first person to the summit of Mount Everest
- Harold William Tilman (Bill Tilman) (1897-1977), explored Himalayas & Patagonian icecap with Eric Shipton
- Yermak Timofeyevich, Russian cossack, explored West Siberia and claimed it for Russia
- Luis Váez de Torres (16th century/17th century Portuguese explorer of southwest Pacific)
- Nuno Tristão (15th century Portuguese explorer of the West African coast)

U


- Andrés de Urdaneta, Spanish geographer who discovered the Urdaneta Route, giving so way to the Manila Galleon.

V


- George Vancouver, (1757-1798), British Royal Navy captain; explored the Pacific coast of North America, naming many locations in the Pacific Northwest.
- Pierre Gaultier de Varennes, sieur de La Vérendrye (1685-1749), French Canadian military officer, fur trader and explorer, explored Western Canada
- Gonçalo Velho (15th century Portuguese explorer of the Atlantic islands)
- Giovanni da Verrazano, (died 1528), sea explorer
- Amerigo Vespucci, (1454-1512), discovered other parts of America and gave his name to the new continents
- Ruy López de Villalobos. Spanish; explored the Pacific and the Philippines, which he named after Philip II of Spain
- Willem de Vlamingh (1640-?). Flemish/Dutch captain; in 1696 and 1697 he charted the coast of northwest Australia.

W


- Jean-Frédéric Waldeck, (1766-1875), French antiquarian, artist, explorer
- Thomas Walker, medical doctor and early explorer of North America west of the Appalachian Mountains
- Langdon Warner, American explorer of Central Asia
- Harry de Windt Explorer, adventurer and author.

Y


- Sir Francis Younghusband, (1863-1942), India and Tibet

Z


- João Gonçalves Zarco (15th century Portuguese explorer of the Atlantic islands)
- Zhang Qian - spent 12 years starting in 138 BC exploring much of Central Asia for Emperor Han Wu Di
- Zheng He, (1371-1435), Chinese admiral who travelled widely over the Indian Ocean and other seas, reaching Africa and Arabia and many other countries

Þ


- Guðríður Þorbjarnardóttir, female explorer of the Middle Ages Explorers Category:Exploration
- ja:探検家

Mekong River

The Mekong (Chinese: 湄公) is one of the world's major rivers. It is the 12th-longest in the world, and the 10th-largest by volume (discharging 475 km³ of water annually). It drains an area of 795,000 km²: From Tibet it runs through China's Yunnan province, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. All except China and Myanmar belong to the Mekong River Commission. The extreme seasonal variations in flow and the presence of rapids and waterfalls have made navigation extremely difficult.

Course

navigation The river's source, and therefore its exact length, is uncertain, due to the existence of several tributaries in an inaccessible environment. Chinese researchers believe that the source is located in the Jifu Mountains in Zaduo (杂多) County, Yushu (玉樹) Tibet Autonomous Prefecture of northwest China's Qinghai Province, which is some 5,200 meters above sea level. An earlier expedition, led by Michel Peissel, placed the source at the head of the Rupsa-La pass (further west, at an altitude of 4975 meters). Figures for the river's total length therefore vary between 4350 and 4909 km. Approximately half the river's length is in China, where it is called the Dza Chu in Tibetan in its upper course in Tibet (扎曲; pinyin: Zá Qū), and more generally the Lancang in Chinese (澜沧江; pinyin Láncāng Jiāng; Wade-Giles Lan-ts'ang Chiang), meaning the "turbulent river". Much of this stretch consists of deep gorges, and the river leaves China at an altitude of only 500 meters. The river next forms the border between Myanmar and Laos for 200 km, at the end of which it meets the tributary Ruak River at the Golden Triangle. This point also marks the division between the Upper and Lower Mekong. Golden Triangle The river then divides Laos and Thailand, before a stretch passing through Laos alone. It is known as Mènam Khong in both Lao and Thai (แม่น้ำโขง). The Lao stretch is characterised by gorges, rapids and depths of as little as half a meter in the dry season. It widens south of Luang Prabang, where it has been known to flood to 4 km in width and reach 100 meters in depth, although its course remains extremely inconsistent. The endangered Giant Mekong Catfish was traditionally caught in this region once yearly, following auspicious rites officiated by the quondam royal family. The river again marks the Lao-Thai border in the stretch which passes Vientiane, followed by a short stretch through Laos alone. This includes the Si Phan Don (four thousand islands) region above the Khone Falls near the Cambodian border, where endangered dolphins can be viewed. The falls are all but impassable to river traffic. In Cambodia, the river is called the Mékôngk or Tonle Thom (great river). The Sambor rapids above Kratie are the last to impede navigation. Just above Phnom Penh is the confluence with the Tonle Sap, the main Cambodian tributary. Below Phnom Penh, it divides into the Bassac and the Mekong proper, which both flow into the Mekong Delta in Vietnam. In Vietnamese it is the Cửu Long Giang or Sông Cửu Long (nine dragons river, but is often just popularly known as the Mê Kông. About 90 million people rely on the river.

History

Vietnamese Vietnamese The difficulty of navigating the river has meant that it has divided, rather than united, the people who live near it. The earliest known civilisation was the 1st century Indianised Malay culture of Funan, in the Mekong Delta. Excavations at Oc Eo, near modern Rach Gia, have found coins from as far away as the Roman Empire. This was succeeded by the Khmer Chenla state by around the 5th century. The Khmer empire of Angkor was the last great Indianized state in the region. From around the time of the fall of the Khmer empire, the Mekong was the frontline between the emergent states of Siam and Vietnam, with Laos and Cambodia torn between their influence. The first European to discover the Mekong was the Portuguese Antonio de Faria in 1540; a European map of 1563 depicts the river, although even by then little was known of the river upstream of the delta. European interest was sporadic: the Spaniards and Portuguese mounted some missionary and trade expeditions, while the Dutch Gerrit van Wuysthoff led an expedition up the river as far as Vientiane in 1641-42. The French took a serious interest in the region in the mid-19th century, capturing Saigon in 1861, and establishing a protectorate over Cambodia in 1863. The first systematic exploration began with the French Mekong Expedition led by Ernest Doudard de Lagrée and Francis Garnier, which ascended the river from its mouth to Yunnan between 1866 to 1868. Their chief finding was that the Mekong had too many falls and rapids to ever be useful for navigation. The river's source was located by Pyotr Kuzmich Kozlov in 1900. From 1893, the French extended their control of the river into Laos, establishing French Indochina by the first decade of the 20th century. This lasted until the First and Second Indochina Wars ended French and American involvement in the region. After the Vietnam War, the tensions between the US-backed Thai government and the new Communist governments in the other countries prevented co-operation on utilisation of the river. The story of the film Apocalypse Now is based around a fictional journey up the Mekong River into Cambodia. The film uses the journey up the river as a metaphor for a journey into the darkness of humanity.

Issues

The two most controversial current issues are the building of dams and the blasting of rapids. A number of dams have already been built on the river's tributaries, notably the Pak Mun dam in Thailand. This has been criticised on grounds of cost as well as damage to the environment and to the livelihoods of affected villagers. China is engaged in an extensive program of dam-building on the river itself: it has already completed one at Manwan, a second is under construction at Dachaoshan, and another twelve are under consideration. It is widely feared that these will prevent sediment from flowing, which would seriously harm agriculture and fishing downstream. The evening out of seasonal fluctuations in water volume could affect the Tonle Sap, which depends on this differential. Dams are also planned by the Cambodian and Lao governments. Some groups oppose them. The Chinese government has also carried out work clearing rocks and sandbars from its stretch of the river, in order to aid navigation, and it has encouraged Laos to do the same. Environmentalists fear that this will mean an increased flow of water, which in turn would cause increased erosion, as well as damaging fish stocks.

Phenomena

Balls of light are observable from time to time rising from the water's surface in the stretch of the river near Vientiane or Nong Khai. These are sometimes referred to as Naga fireballs. The locals attribute the phenomenon to Phaya Naga, Mekong Dragons. According to researchers the river houses more species of giant fish than any world river[http://msnbc.msn.com/id/8404622/], most notably the Giant Mekong Catfish. The low tide level of the river in Cambodia is lower than the high tide level out at sea, and the flow of the Mekong inverts with the tides throughout its stretch in Vietnam and up to Phnom Penh. The very flat Mekong Delta area in Vietnam is thus prone to flooding, especially in the provinces of An Giang and Dong Thap (Đồng Tháp), near the Cambodian border.

References


- Milton Osborne. 1976. River Road to China: The Mekong River Expedition 1866-1873. George Allen & Unwin.
- Milton Osborne. 2000. The Mekong, Turbulent Past, Uncertain Future Atlantic Monthly Press, New York. ISBN 0871138069

External links


- [http://cantho.cool.ne.jp/mekong/outline/mekong_river_e.html Outline of the Mekong River]
- [http://www.shangri-la-river-expeditions.com/1stdes/mekong/mekongsource/TUA2001.html Locating the source of the Mekong]
- [http://www.ntu.edu.sg/idss/WorkingPapers/wp69.pdf Institute of Defense and Strategic Studies, Singapore] "China in the Mekong River Basin: The Regional Security Implications of Resource Development on the Lancang Jiang" by Evelyn Goh, Working Paper No. 69
- [http://www.mouthtosource.net/ Mouth to Source] Follow The Mekong, in QuickTime VR, from the mouth in Viet Nam to the border with China in Northern Laos
- [http://www.stern.de/mekong Multinational Team repeating the French Mekong Expedition of 1866] Category:Rivers of Tibet Category:Rivers of China Category:Rivers of Myanmar Category:Rivers of Thailand Category:Rivers of Laos Category:Rivers of Cambodia Category:Rivers of Vietnam Category:Isan ja:メコン川 th:แม่น้ำโขง

St Etienne

:For the British band named after the football team, see Saint Etienne (band). Saint-Étienne is a city in the central eastern part of France, 60 km (40 miles) southwest of Lyon. Located in the Rhône-Alpes région, Saint-Étienne is the préfecture (capital) of the Loire département. It is situated in the Massif Central. "Saint Étienne" is the French version of Saint Stephen.

Geography

The town is situated on the trunk road that connects Toulouse with Lyon through the Massif Central.

History

In the 16th century, Saint-Étienne possessed an arms factory, and it was this industry which accounted for the town's importance, though it engaged also in the manufacture of ribbons and passementerie from the 17th century. Later still it became a coal-mining centre and more recently has been known for the manufacture of cycles. Saint-Étienne was the seat of a post office in 1825 and in 1832, and a relay station in 1832. It did not really develop to any degree until the 19th century. In the first half of the 19th century, it was only a chief town of an arrondissement in the département of the Loire, with a population in 1832 numbering 19,672 in the east canton and 13,392. Concentration of industry locally prompted these numbers to rise rapidly to 110,000 by about 1880. It was this growing importance of Saint-Étienne that lead to its being made seat of the prefecture and the departmental administration on 25 July 1855, Saint-Étienne became the chief town in the département and seat of the prefect, usurping the position which had hitherto belonged to Montbrison. This latter was reduced to the status of a chief town of an arrondissment. Saint-Étienne had absorbed the commune of