Discovery of Bering Straits1728
Sails through the Bering Strait. Employed by Peter the Great to discover if Asia & north America are connected
Historical person
Vitus Jonassen Bering Biography
Historical biography and chronological timeline for Vitus Jonassen Bering, based on 8 World History Database records associated with Denmark.
8 records1728–17418 events6 places
Chronological biography
1728
1741
Discovery of Aleutian Island1741
Discovers the Aleutian Islands, the Bering Sea & Bering Strait are named after him
Departure for North AmericaJune 1741
Bering sailed from Kamchatka aboard the St Peter to search for the North American coast.
Separation of Expedition ShipsJune 1741
Fog and storms separated Bering’s St Peter from Chirikov’s St Paul during the eastward voyage.
Discovery of Alaska15 July 1741
Vitus Bering, a Danish mariner working for Russia, lands on the Alaskan coast
Sighting of Alaska17 July 1741
Lookouts aboard Bering’s St Peter sighted snow-covered mountains on the North American coast.
Shipwreck on Bering IslandNovember 1741
The damaged St Peter grounded on an island where the expedition remained through the winter.
Death of Vitus BeringDecember 1741
Bering died on the island later named after him while the expedition struggled with disease and exposure.
Titles and roles
Captain Commander · Commander of St Peter
Record provenance
This biography is assembled from World History Database records filtered by country and personal-name fields. Exact duplicate display records are removed. The database is an index rather than a complete narrative biography; formal research should verify entries against relevant primary or specialist sources.