Juan Sebastián Elcano was a Spanish explorer born in 1487 in Getaria, Spain. He is best known for completing the first circumnavigation of the Earth. Elcano joined Ferdinand Magellan's expedition in 1519, which aimed to find a westward route to the Spice Islands. After Magellan's death in the Philippines in 1521, Elcano took command of the remaining ship, the Victoria. He successfully navigated back to Spain, arriving in 1522 with only 18 of the original 270 crew members. This journey proved that the Earth is round and significantly expanded European knowledge of global geography.