Magellan Expedition Encountered Patagonian Giants

During Magellan's 1519 to 1522 expedition, his fleet anchored near present-day Argentina and reported encountering 8-foot-tall men on the beaches of Patagonia. Magellan supposedly befriended the men before tricking one aboard his ship and taking him captive. The crew baptized the captive and named him Paul, but he died during the long Pacific crossing. Historians believe the supposed giants were members of the naturally tall Tehuelche people of southern Chile and Argentina, whose height the sailors exaggerated.

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