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20th-century American explorers

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Neil Armstrong
Neil Alden Armstrong was an American astronaut and aeronautical engineer who, as the commander of the 1969 Apollo 11 mission, became the first person to walk on the Moon. He was also a naval aviator, test pilot and university professor.
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt Jr. was the 26th president of the United States from 1901 to 1909. Roosevelt was vice president for six months under William McKinley and became president after McKinley's assassination in 1901. He was 42 years old upon his first inauguration, making him the youngest person to hold the office.
Buzz Aldrin
Buzz Aldrin is an American former astronaut, aeronautical engineer, and fighter pilot. He was the second person to walk on the Moon after mission commander Neil Armstrong. He made three spacewalks as pilot of the 1966 Gemini 12 mission, and was the Lunar Module Eagle pilot on the 1969 Apollo 11 mission. Following the deaths of Armstrong in 2012 and pilot Michael Collins in 2021, he is the last surviving Apollo 11 crew member. Following Jim Lovell's death in 2025, Aldrin became the oldest living astronaut.
Alan Shepard
American astronaut, first American in space, lunar explorer (1923–1998)
Robert Peary
explorer from the United States (1856–1920)
Eugene Cernan
NASA astronaut, Naval aviator, aeronautical engineer, electrical engineer, fighter pilot, eleventh human to walk on the Moon (Apollo 10 and Apollo 17)
Alan Bean
American astronaut and painter (1932-2018)
Pete Conrad
American astronaut and lunar explorer (1930–1999)
Richard E. Byrd
American naval officer, explorer (1888-1957)
John Young
American astronaut, naval officer, test pilot and aeronautical engineer (1930–2018)
Edgar Mitchell
American astronaut (1930-2016)
David Scott
American engineer, retired U.S. Air Force officer, former test pilot, and former NASA astronaut (born 1932)
James Irwin
American astronaut (1930-1991)
Hiram Bingham III
American academic, explorer, treasure hunter and politician (1875–1956)
Harrison Schmitt
Astronaut, geologist, politician, 12th man to walk on the moon (Apollo 17)
Charles Duke
American engineer, U.S. Air Force officer, test pilot, and NASA astronaut (born 1935)
Sylvia A. Earle
American oceanographer
Frederick Cook
American explorer (1865-1940)
Roy Chapman Andrews
American explorer, naturalist, and writer (1884–1960)
William Beebe
American naturalist and explorer (1877–1962)
Jimmie Angel
American aviator (1899–1956)
Louise Boyd
American explorer, botanist and photographer (1887-1972)
Joseph Rock
Austrian-American scientist-explorer (1884-1962)
Sue Hendrickson
American paleontologist and archeologist
William F. Readdy
American astronaut
Leonhard Seppala
Norwegian musher
Edward Herbert Thompson
American mesoamericanist (1857–1935)
Harriet Chalmers Adams
American explorer, writer and photographer (1875-1937)
Barry Lopez
American writer (1945–2020)
Richard Archbold
American zoologist (1907–1976)
Robert Abram Bartlett
Newfoundland-American explorer
Jackie Ronne
American explorer (1919–2009)
Langdon Warner
American explorer (1881–1955)
Henry Hurd Rusby
American botanist, pharmacist and explorer (1855-1940)
Victor Wolfgang von Hagen
American explorer, author and archaeological historian (1908–1985)
Mary Jobe Akeley
American explorer and naturalist (1878–1966)
Donald Baxter MacMillan
American explorer and sailor (1874-1970)
Gerald Ketchum
Explorer of Antarctica (1908–1992)
Thomas Franklin Daniel
American botanist
Paul Siple
American explorer (1908-1968)
George P. Putnam
American publisher, author, and explorer (1887-1950)
George J. Dufek
United States admiral (1903-1977)
Gene Savoy
American explorer and theologian (1927–2007)
Will Steger
American environmentalist (born 1944)
Alexander Hamilton Rice
American geographer and explorer (1875–1956)
Carl Safina
American biologist (1955-)
John Goddard
American adventurer (1924–2013)
Laurence McKinley Gould
American geologist
Barry Clifford
Underwater archeologist, discovered pirate ship Whydah
Martin and Osa Johnson
married filmmaking duo
Carol Beckwith
American explorer and photographer
Norman Baker
American sailor (1928-2017)
Josephine Powell
American photographer (1919–2007)
Susan D. Shaw
American environmental health scientist, explorer, conservationist, author
Floyd Collins
American cave explorer (1887–1925)
Osborn Maitland Miller
Scottish-American cartographer, surveyor, photographer and botanical collector
George Comer
Whaler, Polar explorer
James P. Blair
American photographer (1931–2021)
John P. Allen
systems ecologist and engineer, metallurgist, adventurer and writer
William Montgomery McGovern
American explorer (1897-1964)