Why Famous:Known for his role as the leader of specially-established unit of the US Army called "Corps of Discovery" with William Clark.
The unit undertook the famous Lewis & Clark expedition to the Pacific coast of America.
Born: August 18, 1774 Birthplace:Ivy, Virginia, USA Star Sign: Leo
Died: October 11, 1809 (aged 35) Cause of Death:Gunshot wounds under mysterious circumstances that could have been murder or suicide along the Natchez Trace in Tennessee at an inn called Grinder's Stand
1805-04-07 Lewis and Clark Expedition leaves Fort Mandan (on the Missouri River near what is now Washburn, North Dakota), beginning their journey to the Pacific Ocean
1805-05-26 Lewis and Clark first sight the Rocky Mountains
1805-11-07 Lewis and Clark Expedition first sights the Pacific Ocean at the mouth of the Columbia River
1805-11-19 Lewis and Clark expedition, led by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, reaches the Pacific Ocean, first European Americans to cross the west
1806-01-08 Lewis and Clark find skeleton of 105' blue whale in Oregon
1806-09-23 Lewis and Clark return to St Louis from Pacific Northwest
1904-04-13 US Congress authorizes Lewis and Clark Expo $1 gold coin
1905-06-01 Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition opens in Portland, Oregon
2001-01-17 President Bill Clinton posthumously raises William Clark's rank from Lieutenant to Captain, and gave the titles of Honorary Sergeant to Sacagawea, a Shoshone woman who served as guide, and York, a person enslaved by William Clark, who assisted the expedition party
David Livingstone
Fridtjof Nansen
Henry Hudson
Hiram Bingham
Ludwig Leichhardt
Tenzing Norgay