At the core, everyone is an explorer. We are all blessed with a certain level of curiosity and that is all that it really takes. Why did people climb Mount Everest? Why did they sail across the oceans? In many ways it was just because they could. Of course, fame and fortune potentially played a role as well, but whatever the reason, exploration has played a critical role in humanity’s development. In the past we explored our continents, then we set off across oceans and explored other continents. Today, we explore the bottoms of the oceans and the heavens above. There is always some new frontier, and although the object of our exploration has changed, we are still people and we still do things for largely the same reason…curiosity. So, lets go back in time and take a look at some of the great explorers of the past. They made a lot of mistakes and did a lot of silly things, but some of the stories are pretty incredible. Although the age of exploration was wrought with warfare, backstabbing and gold (and of course pirates!) things aren’t much different today. These are 25 Interesting Facts About Explorers And Exploration You Might Not Know!
Featured Image: Wikipedia
In 1503 Columbus got stranded in Jamaica while on his way to the new world. Knowing that a lunar eclipse was near, he told the locals that if they didn't take care of his crew the moon would disappear.
Source: space.com, Image: wikipedia Zheng He was a Chinese admiral, diplomat, and explorer who rose to great prominence during the 1300s in spite of being castrated and enslaved earlier in his life
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipedia The famous British explorer David Livingstone once had all his supplies stolen while he was in Africa. In order to get food from the natives he had to eat his meals in a roped off enclosure which served as entertainment for the locals
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipedia In 1951, during the Explorer's Club annual dinner, a 250,000 year old piece of wooly mammoth meat was served
Source: mentalfloss, Image: wikipedia In 1911, British explorer George Murray Levick observed necrophilia in penguins around Antarctica. His findings weren't published until 2012 because they were deemed too indecent at the time
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipedia 
