They sailed into the unknown… and few came back.

In 1519, Ferdinand Magellan set out to do what no one had ever done: Sail around the world.

Five ships. Around 270 men. One idea that sounded almost impossible.

They weren’t just exploring. They were gambling with the edge of the known world.

The Atlantic was only the beginning.

After months at sea, they found a passage at the bottom of South America, now called the Strait of Magellan, a brutal maze of cold water and unpredictable winds.

Beyond it lay something worse: An ocean so vast, so empty, it broke them.

They called it the Pacific. Peaceful. It wasn’t.

Starvation hit first. Men ate leather, sawdust… even rats. Disease followed.

And still, they kept going.

By the time they reached the Philippines, the expedition was already hanging by a thread.

There, in 1521, Magellan made a decision that would cost him everything.

He got involved in a local conflict, and at the Battle of Mactan, he was killed.

The man who set out to circle the globe never finished the journey.

But his expedition did.

In 1522, one ship, barely made it back to Spain.

18 men remained. Out of 270.