What was the expedition of Vasco Nunez de Balboa and Ferdinand Magellan?

Vasco Núñez de Balboa is best known for crossing the Isthmus of Panama in 1513, becoming the first European to see the Pacific Ocean from the New World. He claimed the ocean and its shores for Spain. Ferdinand Magellan, on the other hand, led the first expedition to circumnavigate the globe from 1519 to 1522, proving that the Earth could be circumnavigated by sea and providing crucial information about global geography. Both explorers significantly contributed to European exploration and the understanding of the Americas and the Pacific.