Willem Cornelisz Schouten was born in 1567, Hoorn, Netherlands and he died in 1625 (aged 58 years), Antongil Bay, Madagascar. He was a dutch explorer and navigator for the Dutch East India Company. In 1615, Willem and his younger brother Jan Schouten sailed from Texel in the Netherlands, in an expedition led by Jacob le Maire and sponsored by Isaac Le Marie. He crossed the Pacific Ocean, discovering a number of coral islands in the Tuamotu Islands. He then followed the north coasts of New Ireland and New Guinea and visited adjacent islands.
Do you know: Willem Cornelisz Schouten was the first explorer to navigate Cape Horn and established a route to get to the Pacific Ocean.
