These days, we all know the world i

These days, we all know the world is round , but for most of human history, people thought it was flat.
That is, they thought that if you traveled far enough in one direction, you would eventually come to the edge of the world. Then, about two thousand years ago, people started to come up with the theory that the earth was round. this meant that by traveling far enough in a straight line, you would eventually come back to where you started.

It was not until the sixteenth century that Ferdinand Magellan`s expedition became the first to travel around the world. The expedition first sailed west from Portugal, around South America and across the Pacific before returning around South Africa to go back to Portugal. Even though Magellan died during the voyage, one of his captains, Juan Sebastian Elcano, made it all the way.

In 1872,the French science fiction author Jules Verne published abook called Around the world in 80 Days.
The novel was about a man who travels around the world, starting from London, to bet.

In 1889, an American journalist, Nellie Bly was sent by her newspaper to complete the journey taken by the characters in Verne`s book. She traveled around the world by boat and train, sending articles back to her newspaper about her journey. She finally arrived back home after her trip, taking 72 days, six hours, and eleven minutes to go around the world.

As air travel made a trip around the world a little easier and much faster, people used planes or other
air craft for record-making trips around the world.

The first plane flight around the world took place in 1924, completed by Lt. Lowell H,Smith and five other American pilots, and the first solo helicopter flight around the world was done by an American exploler,Dick Smith, in 1982-83. As for a nonstop Steve Fossett eventually succeeded on his sixth attempt.

Some people take their time though. Dave Kunst took from 1970 to 1974 to become the first person to walk all the way around the world.