1573-08-07 Francis Drake's fleet returns to Plymouth after a year spent raiding for Spanish treasure
1577-12-13 Francis Drake sets sail from England on a circumnavigation of the world
1578-08-20 Francis Drake renames his flagship the Pelican to the Golden Hind in honor of his patron, Sir Christopher Hatton
1579-03-01 British admiral and explorer Francis Drake surprises and captures the Spanish treasure ship Nuestra Señora de la Concepción off the coast of Peru, Drake's richest plunder
1579-06-17 English navigator Francis Drake lands on the coast of California at Drakes Bay, names it "New Albion"
1579-07-23 Francis Drake departs San Francisco to cross the Pacific Ocean
1579-10-16 Francis Drake sights land in the Philippines after crossing the Pacific Ocean aboard the Golden Hind
1579-11-03 Francis Drake arrives at Ternate in the East Indies and makes a trade treaty with the Sultan of Ternate, buys a cargo of cloves
1580-01-09 Francis Drake's ship the Golden Hind strikes a reef off the Celebes islands, slips off the next day and sails onward to Java then round the Cape of Good Hope and back to Plymouth in England
1580-09-26 Francis Drake completes circumnavigation of the world, sailing into Plymouth aboard the Golden Hind
1581-04-04 Francis Drake knighted by Queen Elizabeth I aboard Golden Hind at Deptford
1587-04-29 English naval officer Francis Drake sails into Cadiz, Spain and sinks the Spanish fleet, thereby "Singeing the King of Spain's Beard" and delaying the Spanish invasion by a year
1590-07-06 English admiral Francis Drake takes Portuguese Forts at Taag
1595-11-22 English fleet led by Francis Drake and John Hawkins unsuccessfully attack San Juan, Puerto Rico during the Anglo-Spanish War
Afonso de Albuquerque
Lord Mountbatten
Piet Heyn
Henry Hudson
John Smith
William Dampier