Vitus (Jonassen) Bering Biography (1681–1741) (also spelled Behring)

Navigator, born in Horsens, C Denmark. He led an expedition in the Sea of Kamchatka (1728) to determine whether the continents of Asia and America were joined. In 1733 he was given command of the 600-strong Great Northern Expedition to explore the Siberian coast and Kuril Is, and in 1741 sailed from Ohkotsk towards the American continent, finally sighting Alaska. He was wrecked on the island of Avatcha (now Bering I), where he died. Bering Sea and Bering Strait are named after him.

End of Article: Vitus (Jonassen) Bering Biography (1681–1741) (also spelled Behring)

See Also

Bering Sea, Peter I (of Russia), Georg Wilhelm Steller, Horsens


Crystal Reference Encyclopedia, © Copyright Crystal Reference Systems Limited 2006
Do not copy, download, transfer, or otherwise replicate the site content in whole or in part.

Link to this article directly:

Viv Richards [next]

[back] Vittorio Sereni