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Vitus Bering

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Explorer

The Resume

    (August 1681-December 19, 1741)
    Born in Horsens, Denmark
    Officer in the Russian navy
    Led two expeditions exploring the northeast coast of Asian and northwest coast of North America (1725-31, 1733-43)
    Namesake for the Bering Sea, Bering Strait, and Bering Island

Why he might be annoying:

    He failed to receive a promotion after the Great Northern War, prompting him to resign from the navy in protest.
    His retirement lasted five months.
    His second expedition went massively over budget. (Although a large part of that was due to the Russian government overestimating the amount of help that officials in Siberia would be able and willing to provide the expedition.)
    After four years, when the expedition was supposed to have finished but had not even set sail, his salary was cut in half (1737).
    While returning from Alaska, his ship wrecked on an uninhabited island off the coast of Kamchatka (November 4, 1741).
    He and 28 of his men died on the island before the survivors built a new ship and made it back to the Russian mainland.
    A portrait that was widely used to illustrate articles about him was actually a picture of his uncle, a Danish historian who shared the same name.

Why he might not be annoying:

    His expeditions were massive feats of logistics: before setting sail, he had to lead the exploration party and support personnel 6,000 miles from St. Petersburg to the Pacific coast, then oversee the construction of ships.
    His second expedition was the largest venture in exploration up to that point in history, involving over 3,000 people.
    He showed that Asia and North America were not connected by land.
    The sea otter pelts that the survivors of the expedition brought back sparked the Russian colonization of Alaska.

Credit: C. Fishel


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    In 2023, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
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    In 2021, Out of 13 Votes: 46.15% Annoying