The Life of Vasco Nunez de Balboa

Vasco Nunez de Balboa (1475 – 1519), Spanish explorer of the New World, is perhaps most famous for being the first European to discover the Pacific Ocean. Balboa explored modern-day Panama, and on its west coast he discovered the “South Sea”, which was later renamed the Pacific Ocean by Ferdinand Magellan. Balboa met an early death, being sentenced to death by his rival Pedrarias Davila, for alleged disloyalty to the King.