Henry Morton Stanley vs Vitus Bering

Stanley, on an expedition funded by the New York Herald, found the missing missionary David Livingstone at Ujiji on Lake Tanganyika. The meeting produced the famous greeting 'Dr. Livingstone, I presume?' and renewed public interest in African exploration.

Stanley circumnavigated Lake Victoria in a boat, proving it was a single large lake and not a series of smaller lakes. This confirmed it as the primary source of the Nile, resolving a major geographical debate.

Stanley led an expedition into the Congo Basin on behalf of King Leopold II of Belgium. He established trading stations, signed treaties with local chiefs, and surveyed the Congo River, laying the groundwork for the Congo Free State.

Stanley led a large expedition to rescue Emin Pasha, a German governor in Equatoria. The expedition crossed central Africa, faced starvation and disease, and resulted in the deaths of hundreds of porters, but successfully reached Emin Pasha.

Bering led an overland expedition across Siberia to Kamchatka, then sailed north to map the coast. The expedition confirmed the separation of Asia and America, though Bering did not sight the American coast.

Bering sailed through the strait between Asia and North America, proving that the two continents are separate. The strait was later named the Bering Strait in his honor.

Bering commanded a large expedition to explore the North Pacific. He reached the coast of Alaska, mapping parts of the Aleutian Islands and the Alaskan mainland, but died on the return voyage.

Bering died of scurvy on Bering Island in the Commander Islands after his ship was wrecked during the return voyage. His crew survived the winter and returned to Russia with valuable geographic data.