Sir Francis Drake was born c. 1540 in England and died on January 28, 1596, in the Caribbean Sea. Drake was an English explorer and privateer. He is most famous for his circumnavigation of the globe between 1577 – 1580 (he was the first Englishman to make this expedition. He was also involved in the slave trade, unfortunately. From a common seaman, he made it all the way to Vice Admiral and helped to defeat the Spanish Armada in 1588.