Facts about Henry Morton Stanley

1. 08

   Knighted by Queen Victoria in 1899, the explorer later served as Liberal Unionist Member of Parliament for Lambeth North from 1895 to 1900.

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2. 07

   Stanley's 1895 book Through the Dark Continent sold over 100,000 copies and became one of the nineteenth century's bestselling travel narratives, establishing him as a literary celebrity.

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3. 06

   The New York Herald newspaper sent Stanley to Africa in 1869 with explicit instructions to locate the missing explorer David Livingstone, creating modern investigative journalism.

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4. 05

   Born John Rowlands in 1841 Wales, Stanley adopted his American benefactor's name Henry Morton Stanley after immigrating to the United States as a teenager.

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5. 04

   Stanley's 1889 Emin Pasha Relief Expedition lasted 1,460 days and cost approximately 230 lives, making it one of the deadliest African journeys of the nineteenth century.

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6. 03

   During his 1875-1877 Congo expedition, Stanley led 356 men downriver for 999 days, becoming the first European to traverse the entire Congo River basin across 2,352 miles.

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7. 02

   Stanley's 1874 expedition circumnavigated Lake Victoria with a small steam boat, mapping 3,000 miles of previously uncharted African coastline and waterways.

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8. 01

   In 1871, journalist Henry Morton Stanley traveled 236 days through Africa to locate David Livingstone near Lake Tanganyika.

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