Explorers, Discoverers, Inventors  

Explorers:

Venetian who explored Asia....................................................... Marco Polo
Norse explorer who first reached Greenland................................ Eric the Red
Norse explorer of northeast North America, Eric the Red’s son....... Leif Erickson
Flemish cartographer.................................................................... Mercator
Portuguese navigation instructor.................................... Henry the Navigator
First to go around the Cape of Good Hope............................ Bartolomeu Dias
Discoverer of the New World ...................................... Christopher Columbus
Italian map maker, coined the term “New World” ..................Amerigo Vespucci
Portuguese explorer and first to reach India........................... Vasco da Gama
First to see the Pacific Ocean.................................... Vasco Nuñez de Balboa
Aztec conqueror................................................................ Hernando Cortez
Incan Conqueror and explorer of Peru................................... Francisco Pizarro
Explorer of American southwest; searched for 7 cities of Cibola...................
..............................................................................Francisco de Coronado
First to set foot on U.S. mainland (Florida)............................. Ponce de Leon
Italian explorer who discovered Newfoundland............................. John Cabot
John Cabot’s son who explored the Rio de la Plata................ Sebastian Cabot
Frenchman who founded Montreal......................................... Jacques Cartier
Portuguese discoverer of Brazil................................................ Pedro Cabral
Portuguese discoverer of California........................................... Juan Cabrillo
Frenchman who explored the southern Mississippi River......... Sieur de la Salle
Frenchmen who explored the length of Mississippi River...... Marquette & Joliet
First to sail into New York Harbor............................... Giovanni da Verrazano
Spaniard who discovered the Mississippi River.................... Hernando de Soto
The Father of New France, founded Quebec................... Samuel de Champlain
German naturalist who explored the Orinoco..................... Friedrich Humboldt
Explorer of the Gambia and Niger rivers...................................... Mungo Park
His ship was the first to sail around the world.................. Ferdinand Magellan
First Englishman to sail around the world............................ Sir Francis Drake
Dutchman who explored the Pacific.......................................... Abel Tasman
Norwegian who first navigated Northwest Passage............... Roald Amundsen
Englishman who discovered Australia and Hawaii........................ James Cook
First Englishman to reach Australia..................................... William Dampier
Danish discoverer of Alaska and namesake strait........................ Vitus Bering
Explorer of northwest Canada ..................................... Alexander Mackenzie
Discovered the Great Salt Lake.................................................. Jim Bridger
Englishman who discovered world’s 5th largest island .............. William Baffin
Englishman who discovered source of the Nile (disputed).............. John Speke
Speke’s colleague, who spoke 29 languages....................... Sir Richard Burton
First to reach North Pole, 1909..................... Robert Peary & Matthew Henson
First to reach South Pole, 1911.......................................... Roald Amundsen
Competitor of Amundsen, died after reaching South Pole............. Robert Scott
First to fly over North Pole............................... Richard Byrd & Floyd Bennett
First to fly over South Pole...................................................... Richard Byrd
British explorer of Antarctic...................................................... James Ross
Scottish medical missionary to Africa................................. David Livingstone
Man who found Livingstone................................................... Henry Stanley
Machu Picchu discoverer...................................................... Hiram Bingham
Explored northern Louisiana Purchase territory....................... Lewis and Clark
Explored southern Louisiana Purchase territory.......................... Zebulon Pike

Discoverers:

Oral polio vaccine.................................................................... Albert Sabin
Polio vaccine............................................................................. Jonas Salk
Photo-electric effect............................................................. Albert Einstein
Hydrostatics............................................................................ Archimedes
Fermentation........................................................................ Louis Pasteur
DNA ............................................................. Francis Crick & James Watson
Neptune................................................................................ Johann Galle
Uranus........................................................................ Sir William Herschel
Pluto............................................................................... Clyde Tombaugh
Moons of Jupiter..............................................................................Galileo
Expanding Universe............................................................... Edwin Hubble
Theory of relativity............................................................... Albert Einstein
X-ray imaging................................................................. Wilhelm Roentgen
Radium..................................................................... Marie and Pierre Curie
Penicillin........................................................................ Alexander Fleming
Cells.....................................................................................Robert Hooke
Bacteria................................................................. Anton van Leeuwenhoek
Oxygen ............................................................................. Joseph Priestly
Speech center of the brain.......................................................... Paul Broca
Cause of tuberculosis and cholera.............................................. Robert Koch
Antibodies............................................................................ Louis Pasteur
Cure of  syphilis ...................................................................... Paul Ehrlich
Cure for smallpox................................................................. Edward Jenner
Cause of yellow fever.............................................................. Walter Reed
Laws of genetics ................................................................. Gregor Mendel
Insulin............................................................................ Banting and Best
Electromagnetic or radio waves............................................... Heinrich Hertz
Electrical resistance laws.......................................................... George Ohm
Rabies vaccine....................................................................... Louis Pasteur
Nucleus of the atom.......................................................... Ernest Rutherford
Structure of the atom.................................................................. Neils Bohr

Inventors:

AC generator............................................................................. Nicola Tesla
Adding machine........................................................................ Blaise Pascal
Air brakes.................................................................... George Westinghouse
Air conditioner.......................................................................... Willis Carrier
Airplane............................................................................... Wright brothers
Alternator...................................................................... Chrysler Corporation
Aqua-lung.......................................................................... Jacques Cousteau
Artificial heart.......................................................................... Robert Jarvik
Barometer..................................................................... Evangelista Torricelli
Bifocal lens............................................................................... Ben Franklin
Blind reading system.................................................................. Louis Braille
Calculus............................................................................. Sir Isaac Newton
Contact lenses............................................................................. Adolf Frick
Compression-ignition engine...................................................... Rudolf Diesel
Computer conceiver.............................................................. Charles Babbage
Cotton gin.................................................................................. Eli Whitney
Cyclotron........................................................................ Ernest O. Lawrence
Cylinder locks............................................................................... Linus Yale
Dirigible airship ......................................................... Ferdinand von Zeppelin
Dynamite.................................................................................. Alfred Nobel
Dynamo............................................................................... Michael Faraday
Earthquake intensity device..................................................... Charles Richter
Electric toaster............................................................... General Electric labs
Electric lamp.......................................................................... Thomas Edison
Electric razor............................................................................. Jacob Schick
Electric motor...................................................................... Michael Faraday
Elevator..................................................................................... Elisha Otis
Eye Chart............................................................................. Herman Snellen
Fountain pen....................................................................... Lewis Waterman
Food freezing.................................................................... Clarence Birdseye
Gas burner............................................................................ Robert Bunsen
Geometry......................................................................................... Euclid
Grape juice........................................................................... Thomas Welch
Gyroscope............................................................................. Leon Foucault
Hamburger............................................................................ J. H. Salisbury
Helicopter (single rotor)........................................................... Igor Sikorsky
Hot air balloon.............................................................. Montgolfier brothers
Hybrid popcorn ............................................................. Orville Redenbacher
Ink blot test................................................................... Herman Rorschach
Instant (Polaroid) camera........................................................... Edwin Land
IQ test.....................................................................................Alfred Binet
Kodak camera (hand-held).................................................... George Eastman
Lightning rod............................................................................ Ben Franklin
Liquid-fueled rocket.............................................................. Robert Goddard
Loom......................................................................... Joseph Marie Jacquard
Machine gun......................................................................... Richard Gatling
Magnifying glass....................................................................... Roger Bacon
Mechanical grain reaper........................................................ Cyrus McCormick
Microscope (compound)...................................................... Zacharias Janssen
Microscope (electron)......................................................... Vladimir Zworykin
Mimeograph................................................................................. A. B. Dick
Motion picture machine.......................................................... Thomas Edison
Motion picture camera......................................................... Lumiere brothers
Movable type.................................................................... Johann Gutenberg
Neon lights........................................................................... George Claude
Outboard engine....................................................................... Ole Evinrude
Pacemaker (cardiac).......................................................... Wilson Greatbatch
Paper............................................................................................. Cai Lun
Phonograph........................................................................... Thomas Edison
Photographic film................................................................. George Eastman
Railroad sleeping car............................................................. George Pullman
Refrigerator car...................................................................... Gustavis Swift
Revolver.................................................................................... Samuel Colt
Rotary engine........................................................................... Felix Wankel
Safety razor.............................................................................. King Gillette
Scissors............................................................................ Leonardo da Vinci
Screw......................................................................................... Archimedes
Sewing machine........................................................................... Elias Howe
Spark plug........................................................................... Albert Champion
Steam engine............................................................................. James Watt
Steel making process........................................................ Sir Henry Bessemer
Storage battery................................................................... Alessandro Volta
Submachine gun.................................................................... John Thompson
Telegraph............................................................................... Samuel Morse
Telephone.................................................................. Alexander Graham Bell
Telescope........................................................................... Hans Lippershey
Telescope (astronomical)................................................................... Galileo
Telescope (reflecting).......................................................... Sir Isaac Newton
Television iconoscope......................................................... Vladimir Zworykin
Thermometer (open column).............................................................. Galileo
Thermometer (mercury)...................................................... Gabriel Fahrenheit
Transistor....................................................................... Bell Telephone labs
Vulcanized rubber............................................................... Charles Goodyear
Wireless........................................................................... Guglielmo Marconi
Zipper............................................................................... Whitcomb Judson