Ferdinand Magellan

About Ferdinand Magellan

Ferdinand Magellan (c. 1480–1521) was a Portuguese explorer who organized the Spanish expedition to the East Indies from 1519 to 1522, resulting in the first circumnavigation of the Earth. Though Magellan himself was killed during the voyage in the Philippines, his expedition completed the journey, definitively proving the world was round and establishing the true scale of the Pacific Ocean. This singular, world-altering achievement places him highly in historical influence, with MIT's Pantheon project ranking him #47 out of approximately 15,000 notable figures.

Despite this monumental global impact, Magellan’s modern digital attention appears relatively modest. His Wikipedia viewership for 2025 stands at 1.0 million, resulting in an Attention Gap of approximately 1x-meaning his online presence is roughly proportional to his historical importance, but this figure warrants comparison with others from his era. For context, Joan of Arc, ranked slightly higher at #79 importance, commanded 2.5 million views last year, while William the Conqueror (#934 importance) drew 3.0 million views, suggesting that medieval figures, even those less historically pivotal, may garner more casual internet traffic.

Looking at recent trends, Magellan’s online interest is experiencing a slight contraction, with his year-over-year change registering a -13.2% drop in views. Furthermore, his Q1 to Q3 momentum was negative at -11%, indicating a gentle decline in fresh internet engagement over the latter half of 2025.