Sir Francis Drake embarked for South Seas, December 13, 1577

Born in roughly 1540, the English sea captain and privateer, Sir Francis Drake, passed away on January 28, 1596.  Before he did, however, he carried out the second circumnavigation of the world in a single expedition from 1577 through 1580.  While in the Pacific Ocean, he claimed the area that is now California for the English and thereby caused and era of conflict with the Spanish with respect to the western shores of the Americas.

The English and the Spanish saw Drake into two different lights.  In 1581, Queen Elizabeth I awarded him with knighthood.  The Spanish, however, branded him the pirate El Draque as King Philip II offered what would be equivalent to $8 million for his capture dead or alive.

Sir Francis Drake’s Famous Voyage Around the World may be read here:

http://www.bartleby.com/33/41.html

Alternatively, it may be listened to in an audiobook format here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QfuUlqlGzAI