EXPLORER

Richard Francis Burton

1821 - 1890

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Sir Richard Francis Burton, KCMG, FRGS, (19 March 1821 – 20 October 1890) was a British explorer, army officer, orientalist writer and scholar. He was famed for his travels and explorations in Asia, Africa and South America, as well as his extensive knowledge of languages and cultures, speaking up to 29 different languages. Born in Torquay, Devon, Burton joined the Bombay Army as an officer in 1842, beginning an eighteen-year military career which included a brief stint in the Crimean War. He was subsequently engaged by the Royal Geographical Society (RGS) to explore the East African coast, where Burton along with John Hanning Speke led an expedition to discover the source of the Nile and became the first European known to have seen Lake Tanganyika. Read more on Wikipedia

His biography is available in different languages on Wikipedia. Richard Francis Burton is the 81st most popular explorer (down from 73rd in 2019), the 813th most popular biography from United Kingdom (down from 596th in 2019) and the 13th most popular British Explorer.

Richard Francis Burton is most famous for his translation of "The Arabian Nights" and his exploration of Africa.

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Among EXPLORERS

Among explorers, Richard Francis Burton ranks 81 out of 498. Before him are John Smith, Diogo Dias, Ármin Vámbéry, Juan Díaz de Solís, Xu Fu, and Gudrid Thorbjarnardóttir. After him are Stepan Makarov, Álvaro de Mendaña de Neira, Vicente Yáñez Pinzón, Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca, Diego Columbus, and Jeanne Baret.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1821, Richard Francis Burton ranks 15. Before him are Luitpold, Prince Regent of Bavaria, Elizabeth Blackwell, Wilhelm Tempel, Louis Vuitton, Pauline Viardot, and Charles Tupper. After him are Anita Garibaldi, Johann Josef Loschmidt, Nikolay Nekrasov, Henri-Frédéric Amiel, Heinrich Barth, and Arthur Cayley. Among people deceased in 1890, Richard Francis Burton ranks 14. Before him are Gyula Andrássy, Duchess Helene in Bavaria, Joseph Merrick, Carl Bloch, Henri Nestlé, and Augusta of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach. After him are William Kemmler, Christian Heinrich Friedrich Peters, John Henry Newman, Niels Gade, Princess Zorka of Montenegro, and Jyotirao Phule.

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In United Kingdom

Among people born in United Kingdom, Richard Francis Burton ranks 813 out of 8,785. Before him are Martin Evans (1941), Ian Paice (1948), Ronald Fisher (1890), Wentworth Miller (1972), Stephen Graham (1973), and Lady Mary Victoria Douglas-Hamilton (1850). After him are Beatrice Webb (1858), Mackenzie Bowell (1823), Douglas Adams (1952), Thomas Wolsey (1473), Thomas Cranmer (1489), and Annie Besant (1847).

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Among EXPLORERS In United Kingdom

Among explorers born in United Kingdom, Richard Francis Burton ranks 13. Before him are Henry Morton Stanley (1841), William Baffin (1584), Henry Hudson (1570), John Ross (1777), William Dampier (1651), and John Smith (1580). After him are William Parry (1790), Robert FitzRoy (1805), James Clark Ross (1800), Thomas Cavendish (1560), George Vancouver (1757), and Mary Kingsley (1862).

British born Explorers

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