>>2636372One of my personal favorites is William Dampier, he was a pirate, privateer, author, and considered the first natural scientist.
>first to write about avacados and guacamole in English >first to write about australia >marooned a shipmate on a desert island only to stumble upon him 4 years later on the same island which served as inspiration for Robinson Crusoe>>2638212Roald Amundson is probably the most impressive Scandinavian.
>first man on the north and south pole>redeemed the failed Franklin expedition by discovering the Northwest passage>Learns that a British expedition to the south pole is taking place and races them and bests them by 3 weeks by using skis. The British died on the return trip due to an unknown 15 year cold weather pattern.>eventually vanished in a plane while searching the freezing ocean in a rescue party. 
