On this day in 1741, Danish navigator Vitus Bering, commissioned by the Russian Empire, sighted the coast of Alaska, marking the first recorded European discovery of the region. This historic moment came during the Great Northern Expedition—one of the largest exploratory missions ever organized in the 18th century, aimed at mapping and understanding the vast eastern reaches of the Russian Empire.
Bering, sailing aboard the ship St. Peter, along with his Russian and Danish crew, spotted the rugged Alaskan coast near Mount Saint Elias. The expedition not only confirmed the existence of land across the Bering Sea but also proved that Asia and North America were separate continents, settling a major geographical debate of the time.
Tragically, the voyage was plagued by hardship. Bering fell ill and died later that year on what is now Bering Island, named in his memory. Despite this, his expedition laid the foundation for Russian exploration and fur trading in Alaska, which would later become a key reason for Russia’s expansion into North America. More than a century later, in 1867, Alaska was sold by Russia to the United States, forever linking this 1741 discovery to a significant chapter in modern history.
