EXPLORER

Francis Drake

1540 - 1596

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Sir Francis Drake (c.  1540 – 28 January 1596) was an English explorer, sea captain, privateer, slave trader, naval officer, and politician. Drake is best known for his circumnavigation of the world in a single expedition, from 1577 to 1580. This included his incursion into the Pacific Ocean, until then an area of exclusive Spanish interest, and his claim to New Albion for England, an area in what is now the U.S. state of California. Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of Francis Drake has received more than 5,664,897 page views. His biography is available in 107 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 104 in 2019). Francis Drake is the 12th most popular explorer, the 52nd most popular biography from United Kingdom (down from 41st in 2019) and the 2nd most popular British Explorer.

Francis Drake was an English explorer and privateer, who was the first Englishman to circumnavigate the world. He is most famous for his raids on Spanish ships and settlements in the Americas.

Memorability Metrics

  • 5.7M

    Page Views (PV)

  • 84.23

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 107

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 7.95

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 5.14

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

Page views of Francis Drakes by language


Among EXPLORERS

Among explorers, Francis Drake ranks 12 out of 405. Before him are Bartolomeu Dias, Hernán Cortés, James Cook, Roald Amundsen, Ibn Battuta, and Zheng He. After him are Francisco Pizarro, Prince Henry the Navigator, Jacques Cartier, Fridtjof Nansen, Erik the Red, and David Livingstone.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1540, Francis Drake ranks 1. After him are François Viète, Ludolph van Ceulen, Charles II, Archduke of Austria, John Sigismund Zápolya, Joseph Justus Scaliger, Maharana Pratap, Magnus, Duke of Holstein, Ana de Mendoza, Princess of Eboli, Gasparo da Salò, José de Acosta, and Won Gyun. Among people deceased in 1596, Francis Drake ranks 1. After him are Jean Bodin, Anna Jagiellon, Koca Sinan Pasha, Blaise de Vigenère, George I, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt, Pellegrino Tibaldi, and Giaches de Wert.

Others Born in 1540

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Others Deceased in 1596

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In United Kingdom

Among people born in United Kingdom, Francis Drake ranks 52 out of 6,924. Before him are John Dalton (1766), Alfred the Great (849), Robert Hooke (1635), Lord Byron (1788), Thomas More (1478), and Sean Connery (1930). After him are Cecil Rhodes (1853), Thomas Robert Malthus (1766), Lewis Carroll (1832), Oliver Cromwell (1599), Virginia Woolf (1882), and John Stuart Mill (1806).

Others born in United Kingdom

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Among EXPLORERS In United Kingdom

Among explorers born in United Kingdom, Francis Drake ranks 2. Before him are James Cook (1728). After him are David Livingstone (1813), Henry Morton Stanley (1841), Robert Falcon Scott (1868), Henry Hudson (1570), William Adams (1564), John Smith (1580), William Baffin (1584), Richard Francis Burton (1821), James Clark Ross (1800), and William Dampier (1651).

British born Explorers

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