Season 29, Day 19 - "Get This Strait"

It's Explorer week, and today's quiz is inspired by Juan de Fuca.

Juan de Fuca

Juan de Fuca (Ioannis Phokas) was a Greek explorer. He claimed to have discovered, sailing on behalf of Spain, the strait now named for him that separates the state of Washington from Vancouver Island. He was attempting to find the fabled “Strait of Anián,” which was believed by early cartographers to mark the boundary between North America and Asia and allow access to the Northwest Passage. Though he was actually looking for what would become known as the Bering Strait, the Strait of Juan de Fuca was later named for him based on it being in the approximate location where he claimed to have explored. Since there are no records of Juan de Fuca’s expedition in the Spanish colonial archives, there remains controversy over his claim.