Dave Kunst | |
---|---|
Born | |
Occupation | Adventurer |
Website | http://davekunst.com/ |
Dave Kunst (born July 16, 1939) is the first person independently verified to have walked around the Earth. [1] The walk was intended to be achieved along with his brother John, but during the event John was shot and killed by bandits, and Dave wounded; Dave resumed and completed the walk with another brother, Peter. His walk was officially stated to be 23,250 kilometres (14,450 mi). [2]
Kunst's walk may not have been the first circumnavigation by foot and in particular Guinness World Records mentions George Matthew Schilling [2] as being reputed to have circumnavigated the globe between 1897 and 1904. [3]
Kunst's trek began June 20, 1970, and ended October 5, 1974. Dave started his journey in Waseca, Minnesota with his brother John, a letter of recommendation from US Senator Hubert Humphrey, a scroll to be signed by officials along the way, $1000 and a mule named Willie Makeit carrying camping supplies.
The brothers walked to New York City with Willie Makeit, then flew to Portugal, where they acquired a second mule (Willie stayed home). Dave and John walked across Europe and visited Monaco, where they met Princess Grace, and Italy, where they encountered Thor Heyerdahl.
During their travels, the brothers asked people to send donations to UNICEF; a reporter in Afghanistan mistakenly wrote that they collected and carried them.[ citation needed ] John was killed when bandits shot him in the mountains of Afghanistan in October 1972. Dave was shot in the chest during the same attack, but survived by playing dead. After spending four months recovering from his injuries, Dave resumed his journey along with his brother Peter, from the spot where John was killed. He travelled from New Delhi to Kolkata which took 44 days walk. He reached Kolkata on 7th Sept 1973. As they continued their travels, Dave and Peter were denied access to the Soviet Union, so they flew from India to Australia.
Peter returned home during the Australia-leg of the trek, where Dave continued on alone, by this time on his third mule. Unfortunately, the mule died and Dave was left hauling his wagon of supplies himself. He was on the verge of abandoning his supplies, when he fortuitously met Jenni Samuel, a schoolteacher from Perth. She helped pull his wagon with her car, while he walked alongside. Dave returned to Australia for a year after completing his journey. Jenni and Dave later married and were still together as of 2013 [update] . [4]
"I walked 20 million steps" Dave says, figuring 31 steps per 100 feet "I wore out 21 pairs of shoes but I proved something to myself: If a human being makes up his mind, is determined, sets goals, he can walk around the world."
The brothers were commemorated in June 2004 with a sign in their hometown of Caledonia, Minnesota. The inscription reads: "Caledonia: Birthplace of the Earthwalkers David, Peter and John Kunst."
He also appeared in the Guinness world record book in several editions.
Circumnavigation is the complete navigation around an entire island, continent, or astronomical body. This article focuses on the circumnavigation of Earth.
Muffin the Mule is an animated puppet animal character in a British 1946 to 1955 television show for children. The puppet was made in 1933 for Ann Hogarth. The original TV shows featuring the animal character himself were presented by Annette Mills, and broadcast live by the BBC from their studios at Alexandra Palace from autumn 1946 to winter 1954. Mills and the puppet continued with programmes that were broadcast until 1955, when Mills died. The television series then transferred to ITV in 1956 and 1957. A modern animated version of Muffin the Mule aired on the British CBeebies channel between autumn 2005 and early summer 2011 in the United Kingdom.
The Big Trail is a 1930 American epic pre-Code Western early widescreen film shot on location across the American West starring 23-year-old John Wayne in his first leading role and directed by Raoul Walsh. It is the final completed film to feature Tyrone Power Sr. before his death in 1931, as well as his only sound role.
John Harrison Younger was an American outlaw, the brother of Cole, Jim and Bob. He was briefly a member of the James–Younger Gang, a band of outlaws who also included the infamous Jesse James.
Børge Ousland is a Norwegian polar explorer. He was the first person to cross Antarctica solo.
Richard Graham Sarstedt, known by the stage name Eden Kane, is an English pop/rock singer, musician, record producer and actor best known as a teen idol in the early 1960s, in the pre-Beatles era. He has also recorded under his birth name and with backing group the Downbeats.
The Mormon handcart pioneers were participants in the migration of members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to Salt Lake City, Utah, who used handcarts to transport their belongings. The Mormon handcart movement began in 1856 and continued until 1860.
Douglas Allen Woody was an American bass guitarist best known for his eight-year tenure in the Allman Brothers Band and as a co-founder of Gov't Mule.
Edward Bunker was a Mormon pioneer and community founder of Bunkerville, Nevada.
The Transglobe Expedition (1979–1982) was the first expedition to make a longitudinal (north–south) circumnavigation of the Earth using only surface transport. British adventurer Sir Ranulph Fiennes led a team, including Oliver Shepard and Charles R. Burton, that attempted to follow the Greenwich meridian over both land and water. They began in Greenwich in the United Kingdom in September 1979 and travelled south, arriving at the South Pole on 15 December 1980. Over the next 14 months, they travelled north, reaching the North Pole on 11 April 1982. Travelling south once more, they arrived again in Greenwich on 29 August 1982. It required traversing both of the poles and the use of boats in some places. Oliver Shepard took part in the Antarctic leg of the expedition. Ginny Fiennes handled all communications between the land team and their support, and ran the polar bases.
Erden Eruç is a Turkish-American adventurer who became the first person in history to complete an entirely solo and entirely human-powered circumnavigation of the Earth on 21 July 2012 in Bodega Bay, California, United States. The journey had started from Bodega Bay a little more than five years earlier on 10 July 2007. The modes of transport included a rowboat to cross the oceans, a sea kayak for shorelines, a bicycle on the roads and hiking on trails, along with canoes for a few river crossings. The route he followed was 66,299 km (41,196 mi) long, crossed the equator twice and all lines of longitude, and passed over twelve pairs of antipodal points, meeting all the requirements for a true circumnavigation of the globe. Guinness World Records has officially recognized Eruç for the "First solo circumnavigation of the globe using human power" on a journey that lasted 5 years 11 days 12 hours and 22 minutes.
Jock Wishart is a maritime and polar adventurer, sportsman and explorer. Until his successful 2011 Old Pulteney Row to the Pole, he was best known for his circumnavigation of the globe in a powered vessel, setting a new world record in the Cable & Wireless Adventurer and for organising and leading the Polar Race.
The Montana Trail was a wagon road that served gold rush towns such as Bannack, Virginia City and later Helena during the Montana gold rush era of the 1860s and 1870s. Miners and settlers all traveled the trail to try to find better lives in Montana. The trail was also utilized for freighting and shipping supplies and food goods to Montana from Utah. American Indians, as well as the weather, were major risks to traveling on the Montana Trail.
The fastest known time (FKT) for circumnavigation of the globe by bicycle is awarded for completing a continuous journey around the globe by bicycle and other means, consisting of a minimum 29,000 km in total distance cycled.
The Willie and Martin handcart companies were two companies of LDS handcart pioneers that were participating in the migration of members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to Salt Lake City, Utah and used handcarts to transport their belongings. The LDS handcart movement began in 1856 and continued until 1860. The trek was disastrous for these two companies, which started their journey dangerously late in 1856 and were caught by heavy snow and severe temperatures in central Wyoming. Despite a dramatic rescue effort, more than 210 of the 980 pioneers in these two companies died along the way. John Chislett, a survivor, wrote, "Many a father pulled his cart, with his little children on it, until the day preceding his death."
Willie Keil's Grave State Park Heritage Site, part of the Washington State Parks system, is located on Washington State Route 6 north of Menlo, Washington, and 5 miles southeast of Raymond. The park is the burial site of Willie Keil, known as the "Pickled Pioneer".