Who was Thor Heyerdahl?
Thor Heyerdahl was a Norwegian explorer and scientist who rose to international fame following his 1947 Kon-Tiki expedition and the subsequent bestselling book and Oscar-winning film of the same name.
Is Thor Heyerdahl still alive?
April 18, 2002Thor Heyerdahl / Date of death
What is Thor Heyerdahl theory?
As early as 1952, Heyerdahl suggested that the first people to inhabit the eastern part of Polynesia were Native American peoples, but the controversial theory was heavily criticized because of insufficient evidence.
How old is Thor Heyerdahl?
87 years (1914–2002)Thor Heyerdahl / Age at death
Did Thor Heyerdahl cross the Atlantic?
On July 12, 1970, Heyerdahl’s crew crossed the Atlantic in a second papyrus vessel called Ra II. Heyerdahl wanted to show that ancient Egyptians could have reached the Americas centuries before Europeans did. No evidence of ancient New World Egyptians has been found.
When was Thor Heyerdahl born?
October 6, 1914Thor Heyerdahl / Date of birth
Thor Heyerdahl, (born October 6, 1914, Larvik, Norway—died April 18, 2002, Colla Micheri, Italy), Norwegian ethnologist and adventurer who organized and led the famous Kon-Tiki (1947) and Ra (1969–70) transoceanic scientific expeditions.
Are any of the Kon-Tiki crew still alive?
A museum official says Knut Magne Haugland, the last of six crew members who crossed the Pacific Ocean on board the balsa wood raft Kon-Tiki, has died. He was 92.
Why was Thor Heyerdahl wrong?
Thor Heyerdahl spent his life trying to prove that South Americans had populated Polynesia, but advances in DNA science eventually proved him wrong.
What did Thor Heyerdahl do to try to prove his theory that the Polynesians originally came from South America in the East?
In 1947, Norwegian explorer Thor Heyerdahl had famously voyaged from Peru in South America to the Tuamotu islands in the Pacific on a raft made of balsa wood called the Kon-Tiki to prove that ancient South Americans had settled in Polynesia.
Is Kon-Tiki true?
“Kon-Tiki” is based on a true story that follows the incredible story of Norwegian explorer Thor Heyerdahl, who crossed the Pacific ocean in a balsa wood raft in 1947, together with five men, to prove that South Americans – specifically, Peruvians – back in pre-Colombian times could have crossed the sea and settled on …
Where was Thor Heyerdahl born?
Larvik, NorwayThor Heyerdahl / Place of birth
What was Thor Heyerdahl boat made of?
To test the feasibility of ancient transatlantic travel, Heyerdahl built a 45-foot-long copy of an ancient Egyptian papyrus vessel in 1969, with the aid of traditional boatbuilders from Lake Chad in Central Africa.