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John Smith, engraving by Simon van de Passe, 1616 (credit: Courtesy of the trustees of the British Museum; photograph, J.R. Freeman & Co. Ltd.)

(baptized Jan. 6, 1580, Willoughby, Lincolnshire, Eng. — died June 21, 1631, London) English explorer. After a period as a military adventurer, he joined an English group preparing to establish a colony in North America. The Virginia Company of London sailed three ships to Chesapeake Bay, arriving in 1607 to establish the first permanent English settlement in North America at Jamestown, of which Smith later became the leader. On a river voyage to explore the surrounding region, he was captured by Indians of the Powhatan empire; according to his own account, Smith was saved from death by Pocahontas, daughter of the Indian chief. While president of the Jamestown Colony, Smith oversaw its expansion. An injury forced his return to England in 1609. Eager for further exploration, he made contact with the Plymouth Company and sailed in 1614 to the area he named New England. He also mapped its coast and wrote descriptions of Virginia and New England that encouraged others to colonize the New World.

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