In the UK, we were invariably taught that Sir Francis Drake, in the Golden Hind, was the first one to circumnavigate the globe. We were told that Magellan attempted it, but died in the process (presumably the completion of an expedition sans its leader didn't count). Drake came back with a fortune in loot for the Queen of England and a price on his head from the King of Spain. It seems the Spanish Ambassador was more than a little put out when Queen Elizabeth knighted this 'pirate' on the deck of his newly-arrived ship!

But then again, it's all about the publicity, right? They tell us that Marco Polo was the first European to travel the length of the Silk Road from West to East. But the Road predated him and we can't assume that nobody else ever did the same thing. But if they were an ordinary person, hiring themselves out as a guide, baggage-handler, guard or whatever, we'd not have heard of them!