Claire Lampherep age 11, of Nashville, Tenn., for her question:

Who first sailed around South Africa?

We call the southern tip of Africa the Cape of Good Hope, But the first European to sail around it named it Cabo Tormentoso the Cape of Storms. This brave mariner was Bartholomew Diaz, sent by King John of Portugal to find a sea route to Asia around Africa. Diaz and three small ships set forth from Lisbon in August 1487.

New Yearts Day, 1488 found them far south along the eastern shore of Africa, There a storm blew them off course for 13 days, Later, they turned north into the Indian Ocean. They had rounded the Cape without seeing it. His men then forced Diaz to turn back. On the return journey, Diaz and his men saw the cliffs of the Cape and charted the waters. Ten years later, the great sailor Vasco da Gama retraced the route and sailed right on to India,,