What did Magellan discover?

Answer 1

Magellan's expedition was the first to successfully sail around the whole world (although only 18 out of 257 managed to return, and Magellan himself got killed on the way), and quite a few places and animals they found were previously unknown to Europeans.

Among other things, Magellan discovered the Strait of Magellan, which runs between the Atlantic and the Pacific near the southern tip of South America, and a species of penguin called the Magellanic Penguin.

His expedition also established the need for the international date line, you could say he discovered that.

Among things he did NOT discover - he found them early but was not the first European to do so - are:

• The Magellanic Clouds, a pair of galaxies: Described by Magellan's crew, but observed by a couple of Italians about 30 years earlier, and described by a Persian astronomer 500 years prior to that.
• The Pacific: Magellan's expedition were the first Europeans to enter the Pacific through the Strait of Magellan, but Spanish explorer Vasco Nuñez de Balboa had seen the Pacific a few years earlier, by land across Panama.
  
• The Philippines: Parts of the Philippines were already known to the Portuguese, and Arab traders had established commerce there centuries earlier.

See related links.

Answer 2

south america