Hanno the Navigator

Carthaginian admiral who led a fleet of 60 penteconters with 30,000 colonists beyond the Pillars of Hercules (Gibraltar) and down the West African coast c.500 BC. His expedition reached at least Senegal and possibly Sierra Leone — the earliest documented voyage to sub-Saharan Africa. His account, the 'Periplus of Hanno,' preserved in a Greek translation, describes active volcanoes, rivers of fire, and an encounter with large hairy hominids ('gorillai') that may be the first written reference to gorillas.

• Lived: 500 BCE – 440 BCE
• Nationality: carthaginian
• Roles: explorer, admiral