Stories about famous explorers and their explorations excited Magellan’s imagination. He also desired to become a famous explorer. In 1505, at age 25 years, he joined a Portuguese fleet. He was with the expedition that conquered Malacca in 1511. Here he befriended Ruy Faleiro, also a Portuguese and an astronomer, and Enrique, the Malay (or Panglima Awang). The three returned to Portugal. Refused Royal support for his ambitious plans, he offered his services to Spain’s King Charles who approved his expedition. With five ships and 270 men, the Magellan expedition left San Lucer de Barrameda on September 20, 1519. Only one ship and 18 men returned to Spain on September 6, 1522.

The Magellan expedition achieved the following: It was the first expedition to circumnavigate the globe, with a native Filipino – Enrique or Panglima Awang – the first man to circumnavigate the world; it proved that the earth is round, not flat, as was popularly believed then; it established the International Dateline, i.e., one "gains" a day when traveling from west to east and "loses" a day when traveling from east to west; it inaugurated the Era of Exploration and Navigation in Europe that led to numerous discoveries of new lands, new peoples, etc.; it established close relations between Europe and Asia; and the battle of Mactan, where Magellan lost his life, marked the first Filipino victory against Europeans and highlighted the fact that Filipinos are a freedom-loving people.

The Magellan expedition was followed by many other expeditions supported by the Spanish rulers. The Legazpi Expedition (November, 1564-February, 1565) was the most successful. Miguel Lopez de Legazpi inaugurated the more than 300 years of Spanish rule in the country.

To the Europeans, the Magellan Expedition was significant for it opened to them the Philippines and the rest of Asia.