Marco Polo (Explorars)

Marco Polo was born in Venice in 1254 and raised by his mother. His father, Niccolo Polo, was a successful trader who spent most of Marco's childhood traveling with Marco's uncle. The two men returned to Venice when Marco was a teenager, only to find out that his mother had died while they were gone. During their travels in China, Marco's father and uncle made an unlikely friend in Mongol ruler Kublai Khan.

Marco Polo, one of the greatest voyagers of all time (think Indiana Jones without the stuntmen), whose writings have influenced other travelers for centuries. At the time that Polo embarked on his sojourn, Western Europeans knew very little about the countries Polo visited. China in particular was a mystery because it's surrounded by treacherous mountain terrain, deserts and oceans. Before travel from Europe to China became commonplace, information and goods from faraway lands were obtained primarily from people who traveled the Silk Road. The Silk Road was a series of trade routes that allowed merchants to transport goods such as silk and precious gems from Central Asia to Europe  Marco Polo's travels on the Silk Road and other ancient trade routes, which took him farther than any European before him, were chronicled in his book "The Description of the World" (also known as "The Travels of Marco Polo"). This book was Europe's first glimpse into unknown parts of the world.

Khan asked the explorers to return to China with a hundred or so missionaries and priests to teach his people about Christianity, as well as holy oil blessed by the Pope. The duo enlisted Marco in this mission in 1271 when he was 17. It was easy obtaining the holy oil, but the group had less success commissioning missionaries -- two friars were sent by the church, but they turned around and went home.

All in all, the trio spent 24 years on the road, winding through a variety of treacherous and beautiful landscapes in the Middle East, Central Asia and China that spanned more than 24,000 miles (38,624 km). The bulk of their time (17 years) was spent serving Khan's court in China.