In the early years of the 18th century, many people still believed that a bridge of land connected Asia and North America. Bering, Vitus, a Danish sailor working for the Czar of Russia, proved that this land bridge did not exist. Bering was born at Horsens, Denmark, in 1680 or 1681, and joined the Russian Navy when he was 23. In 1724 Czar Peter the Great appointed him to lead an expedition across Russia and Siberia to the peninsula of Kamchatka, north of Japan. Here Bering was to build a ship in which to seek the land bridge.
The long journey across snow-covered Siberia was filled with terrible hardships for the members of the expedition. After more than three years they reached a little village at Kamchatka. Bering built a ship and in 1728 set sail across the uncharted sea. West of Alaska he discovered an island, which he named St. Lawrence Island. Then he sailed north through the strait (now called Bering Strait) separating Asia and North America. The discovery of this strait proved that the two continents were not linked. But heavy fog prevented Bering from seeing the coast of Alaska, 63 kilometers (39 miles) away.
Bering return to Russia in 1730 to plan a second expedition. In 1741 he sailed from Kamchatka with two ships, the St. Peter and the St. Paul. On July 16, while he was gazing at the horizon from the deck of the St. Peter, Bering saw a jagged coastline and a lofty mountain range. He had discovered Alaska. He named the highest mountain peak Mount Saint Elias. However, bad weather made further exploration difficult, and Bering and many of his men were ill. Violent storms drove the St. Peter back toward Asia and wrecked the ship on a desert island off the coast of Kamchatka. Here, on December 8, 1741, Bering died and was buried. The island and the sea he had explored were named after him.
The long journey across snow-covered Siberia was filled with terrible hardships for the members of the expedition. After more than three years they reached a little village at Kamchatka. Bering built a ship and in 1728 set sail across the uncharted sea. West of Alaska he discovered an island, which he named St. Lawrence Island. Then he sailed north through the strait (now called Bering Strait) separating Asia and North America. The discovery of this strait proved that the two continents were not linked. But heavy fog prevented Bering from seeing the coast of Alaska, 63 kilometers (39 miles) away.
Bering return to Russia in 1730 to plan a second expedition. In 1741 he sailed from Kamchatka with two ships, the St. Peter and the St. Paul. On July 16, while he was gazing at the horizon from the deck of the St. Peter, Bering saw a jagged coastline and a lofty mountain range. He had discovered Alaska. He named the highest mountain peak Mount Saint Elias. However, bad weather made further exploration difficult, and Bering and many of his men were ill. Violent storms drove the St. Peter back toward Asia and wrecked the ship on a desert island off the coast of Kamchatka. Here, on December 8, 1741, Bering died and was buried. The island and the sea he had explored were named after him.
