Trending Explorers of all time
The 100 most-viewed explorers of all time on Wikipedia. Ranked by real-world attention. Top: Ulysses S. Grant.
100
Ranked
369,850
Total Views (of all time)
1
Ulysses S. Grant
president of the United States from 1869 to 1877
61,005
views
views
2
T. E. Lawrence
British archaeologist, army officer and diplomat (1888–1935)
40,078
views
views
3
Yuri Gagarin
Soviet pilot and cosmonaut, first human in space (1934–1968)
22,461
views
views
4
Hernán Cortés
Spanish conquistador
19,051
views
views
5
Vasco da Gama
Portuguese explorer (c. 1460s – 1524)
16,889
views
views
6
Francis Drake
English sailor and privateer (c. 1540 – 1596)
16,759
views
views
7
Theodore Roosevelt
26th President of the United States from 1901 to 1909 (1858–1919)
9,401
views
views
8
Addison O'Dea
American filmmaker
9,313
views
views
9
John Smith
English soldier, explorer, writer (1580–1631)
8,621
views
views
10
James Cameron
Canadian filmmaker (born 1954)
8,511
views
views
11
Reinhold Messner
Italian mountaineer, adventurer and explorer (born 1944)
7,477
views
views
12
Walton Goggins
American actor (born 1971)
6,521
views
views
13
William Clark
American explorer, soldier, Indian agent, and territorial governor (1770-1838)
6,096
views
views
14
Richard E. Grant
British-Swazi actor
5,924
views
views
15
Colin Baker
English actor
5,805
views
views
16
Christopher Columbus
Italian navigator, explorer, and colonist (1451–1506)
5,619
views
views
17
Peter Kropotkin
Russian revolutionary socialist and philosopher (1842–1921)
5,056
views
views
18
William Adams
English navigator who travelled to Japan
4,435
views
views
19
Christopher McCandless
American hiker and explorer (1968–1992)
4,353
views
views
20
Tenzing Norgay
Nepalese Indian Sherpa mountaineer (1914-1986)
3,750
views
views
21
Christopher Gist
British explorer (1706–1759)
3,741
views
views
22
Lathgertha
legendary Viking shieldmaiden and ruler
3,340
views
views
23
Jessica Meir
Swedish-American marine biologist and astronaut
3,110
views
views
24
Patrick Hemingway
American author, safari guide, son to Ernest Hemingway (1928–2025)
3,102
views
views
25
John Hurt
British actor (1940–2017)
3,095
views
views
26
George Mallory
English mountaineer (1886-1924)
3,059
views
views
27
Karl Bushby
British pedestrian circumnavigator of the globe
2,793
views
views
28
Jedediah Smith
American explorer (1799–1831)
2,769
views
views
29
Nathan Drake
fictional character from the Uncharted video game series
2,610
views
views
30
Sora
main protagonist of the Kingdom Hearts video game series
2,275
views
views
31
Daniel Boone
American pioneer and frontiersman (1734–1820)
2,222
views
views
32
Michael Rockefeller
American anthropologist and art collector (1938–1961)
2,192
views
views
33
Arthur C. Clarke
British science fiction writer, inventor, and futurist (1917–2008)
1,890
views
views
34
Thorfinn
fictional character from Vinland Saga
1,783
views
views
35
John White
English artist, and an early pioneer of English efforts to settle the New World (1540-1593)
1,763
views
views
36
Peter Cushing
British actor (1913–1994)
1,756
views
views
37
Leif Erikson
norse explorer (c. 970 – c. 1020)
1,694
views
views
38
George Washington Williams
American Civil War soldier, Christian minister, Ohio politician, lawyer, journalist, and writer
1,684
views
views
39
Henry Morshead
English surveyor, explorer and mountaineer
1,677
views
views
40
Ernest Shackleton
Anglo-Irish Antarctic explorer (1874–1922)
1,623
views
views
41
Joseph Banks
English naturalist, botanist and patron of the natural sciences (1743-1820)
1,584
views
views
42
Egill Skallagrímsson
Viking Age poet, warrior and farmer
1,579
views
views
43
Jan van Riebeeck
Dutch colonial governor (1619–1677)
1,548
views
views
44
Mister Fantastic
fictional character in Marvel Comics
1,530
views
views
45
Mungo Park
Scottish naturalist and explorer of the African continent
1,520
views
views
46
Jon Krakauer
American writer and journalist
1,451
views
views
47
Anatoli Boukreev
Russian mountain climber (1958-1997)
1,429
views
views
48
St John Philby
English Arabist, explorer, writer, and British colonial office intelligence officer (1885–1960)
1,393
views
views
49
James T. Kirk
fictional character from Star Trek
1,349
views
views
50
Edward Drinker Cope
American paleontologist, geologist, and biologist (1840–1897)
1,344
views
views
51
Hans Staden
German conquistador
1,339
views
views
52
Jim Bridger
American explorer (1804-1881)
1,329
views
views
53
Walter Raleigh
English statesman, soldier and writer (1552–1618)
1,323
views
views
54
Juan de Oñate
Spanish Conquistador, explorer, and colonial governor
1,285
views
views
55
Jacques Cousteau
French naval officer, oceanographer, filmmaker and author (1910-1997)
1,281
views
views
56
John Hanning Speke
British military officer and explorer (1827–1864)
1,254
views
views
57
Julius Popper
Romanian-Argentinian explorer and mercenary, accused of genocide (1857-1893)
1,203
views
views
58
Marco Siffredi
French snowboarder and mountaineer (1979–2002)
1,148
views
views
59
Hideaki Takizawa
Japanese actor-singer
1,126
views
views
60
James Murray
British biologist and explorer (1865-1914)
1,092
views
views
61
Meriwether Lewis
American explorer (1774-1809)
1,032
views
views
62
Lord Asriel
His Dark Materials character
965
views
views
63
Kit Carson
American frontiersman and Union Army general (1809-1868)
963
views
views
64
William Somerset Maugham
English playwright and author (1874–1965)
953
views
views
65
Martin Frobisher
English seaman and privateer (1535–1594)
952
views
views
66
Hugh Glass
American fur trapper and frontiersman
931
views
views
67
Ibn Battuta
14th century Muslim Maghrebi scholar and explorer
930
views
views
68
Jay Cooke
American lawyer, businessman and politician (1821–1905)
918
views
views
69
Maurice Benyovszky
Hungarian traveller and writer
887
views
views
70
James Bowie
nineteenth-century American pioneer
822
views
views
71
Francisco Pizarro
Spanish conquistador who conquered the Inca Empire
815
views
views
72
Erik the Red
explorer and founder of the first viking settlement in Greenland
741
views
views
73
John Rolfe
English-born explorer, farmer, and merchant
734
views
views
74
Agustín Lizárraga
Peruvian explorer and farmer
724
views
views
75
Conrad Anker
mountaineer
698
views
views
76
Ginny Fiennes
British explorer
695
views
views
77
Nikolay Przhevalsky
Russian soldier, explorer, & geographer (1839-1888)
686
views
views
78
Jessica Watson
Australian sailor
672
views
views
79
Mandarin
fictional character in Marvel Comics
667
views
views
80
Richard E. Byrd
American naval officer, explorer (1888-1957)
647
views
views
81
Günther Messner
Italian mountain climber (1946-1970)
643
views
views
82
George Hearst
American politician (1820-1891)
638
views
views
83
Robert Falcon Scott
Royal Navy officer and explorer (1868–1912)
636
views
views
84
Jerónimo de Aguilar
Friar, conquistador
620
views
views
85
John Bozeman
American pioneer in Montana (1837-1867)
611
views
views
86
Gertrude Bell
British traveller, writer, mountaineer, politician, archaeologist and spy (1868–1926)
578
views
views
87
Pierre-Jean De Smet
Jesuit priest and missionary (1801–1873)
557
views
views
88
George Everest
Welsh surveyor and geographer (1790–1866)
547
views
views
89
Diogo Cão
Portuguese explorer
544
views
views
90
Francis Galton
British eugenist, polymath, and behavioural geneticist (1822–1911)
544
views
views
91
Achille Compagnoni
Italian mountain climber and skier (1914-2009)
535
views
views
92
Tahir Shah
British journalist and documentary filmmaker
515
views
views
93
Marianne North
English philanthropist, painter, biologist and botanical artist (1830-1890)
513
views
views
94
Heinrich Harrer
Austrian mountaineer and author (1912–2006)
510
views
views
95
Henry Hudson
English explorer b1565
509
views
views
96
Francis Cooke
original settler of Plymouth Colony (1583–1663)
509
views
views
97
Moshe Zar
Israeli land purchaser and a former terrorist
507
views
views
98
William Lewis Herndon
American explorer (1813–1857)
506
views
views
99
Allan Quatermain
fictional character created by H. Rider Haggard
495
views
views
100
Céline Cousteau
French-American explorer, filmmaker, and diver
491
views
views