# Was Magellan’s/Elcano’s circumnavigation of the world planned as such? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 13, 2021, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-magellan-s-elcano-s-circumnavigation-of-the-world-planned-as-such/954300 "2021-11-13T19:42:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2021, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-magellan-s-elcano-s-circumnavigation-of-the-world-planned-as-such/954300/21 "2021-11-16T01:42:45Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > But note that the around the world trip in that book was in the other direction, so they “gained” a day. Which is why the denoument works. It wouldn’t have worked if they’d gone the other way. I submitted a trivia question to a radio show; which is the odd one out of: Ferdinand Magellan Phileas Fogg Amelia Earhart John Glenn All circumnavigated the globe (or tried to), but Magellan was the only one to travel westbound. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2021, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-magellan-s-elcano-s-circumnavigation-of-the-world-planned-as-such/954300/22 "2021-11-16T01:59:27Z")
But of course, you could also say that Fogg is the odd one, being fictional, or Earhart, being a woman, or Glenn, being the one who did it quickest, or… ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2021, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-magellan-s-elcano-s-circumnavigation-of-the-world-planned-as-such/954300/23 "2021-11-16T02:25:59Z")
Yes, but the answers to these sorts of question are always something more specific than that. ---
**Author:** ![Schnitte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/schnitte/32/9033_2.png) [@Schnitte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schnitte)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2021, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-magellan-s-elcano-s-circumnavigation-of-the-world-planned-as-such/954300/24 "2021-11-16T07:12:43Z")
Or Magellan, but for another reason: Because he didn’t complete the circumnavigation. Having completed a circumnavigation is a more obvious criterion than having attempted one, I think. And as this thread shows, one might make an argument that Magellan didn’t even attempt one as this seems not to have been on his mind when he left. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2021, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-magellan-s-elcano-s-circumnavigation-of-the-world-planned-as-such/954300/25 "2021-11-16T13:36:33Z")
> [@Schnitte](#): > > Or Magellan, but for another reason: Because he didn’t complete the circumnavigation. Unfortunately, Amelia Earhart didn’t complete hers either. ---
**Author:** ![Schnitte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/schnitte/32/9033_2.png) [@Schnitte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schnitte)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2021, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-magellan-s-elcano-s-circumnavigation-of-the-world-planned-as-such/954300/26 "2021-11-16T13:38:46Z")
Ah, OK. Didn’t know that (she’s not a household name in Europe; I knew she was an aviator, but don’t know details about her trip). So I recant my post. ---
**Author:** ![Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/marvin_the_martian/32/2898_2.png) [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marvin_the_Martian)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2021, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-magellan-s-elcano-s-circumnavigation-of-the-world-planned-as-such/954300/27 "2021-11-16T14:08:32Z")
Interesting. She is one of the most famous (if not _the_ most famous) “missing persons” in US history. ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2021, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-magellan-s-elcano-s-circumnavigation-of-the-world-planned-as-such/954300/28 "2021-11-16T15:40:18Z")
> [@Schnitte](#): > > Ah, OK. Didn’t know that (she’s not a household name in Europe; I knew she was an aviator, but don’t know details about her trip). So I recant my post. She came close. Her (second) attempted flight around the world went eastward from Oakland, California to where she disappeared, near the Howland Islands. And on her first attempt, she flew westward from Oakland to Hawaii. So if you combine both trips (as was done to make the case that Magellan had completed a two-part circumnavigation) she’s short the distance between the vicinity of the Howland Islands and Hawaii (about 2,000 miles). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-magellan-s-elcano-s-circumnavigation-of-the-world-planned-as-such/954300.md?page=1)