Thor Heyerdahl KStJ was a Norwegian adventurer and ethnographer with a background in zoology, botany and geography.
The Kon-Tiki expedition was a 1947 journey by raft across the Pacific Ocean from South America to the Polynesian islands, led by Norwegian explorer and writer Thor Heyerdahl. The raft was named Kon-Tiki after the Inca god Viracocha, for whom "Kon-Tiki" was said to be an old name. Kon-Tiki is also the name of Heyerdahl's book, the Academy Award–winning 1950 documentary film chronicling his adventures, and the 2012 dramatized feature film nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.
Ra is the Sun-god of Ancient Egypt.
Yuri Aleksandrovich Senkevich was a Soviet doctor, and scientist. He is a Candidate of Sciences. Became famous in the USSR and worldwide for his participation in the Ra Expedition, in which he sailed together with Thor Heyerdahl.
Aku-Aku: the Secret of Easter Island is a 1957 book by Thor Heyerdahl published in Norwegian, Swedish, Danish and Finnish, and in French and English the following year. The book describes the 1955–1956 Norwegian Archaeological Expedition's investigations of Polynesian history and culture at Easter Island, the Austral Islands of Rapa Iti and Raivavae, and the Marquesas Islands of Nuku Hiva and Hiva Oa. Visits to Pitcairn Island, Mangareva and Tahiti are described as well.
Torstein Pettersen Raaby was a Norwegian telegrapher, resistance fighter and explorer. He is known as a crew member on the Kon-Tiki expedition.
Knut Magne Haugland, DSO, MM, was a resistance fighter and noted explorer from Norway, who accompanied Thor Heyerdahl on his famous 1947 Kon-Tiki expedition.
Kon-Tiki is a Norwegian documentary film about the Kon-Tiki expedition led by Norwegian explorer and writer Thor Heyerdahl in 1947, released in Sweden, Norway, Finland, and Denmark in 1950, followed by the United States in 1951. The movie, which was directed by Thor Heyerdahl and edited by Olle Nordemar, received the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature for 1951 at the 24th Academy Awards. The Oscar officially went to Olle Nordemar.
The Tangaroa Expedition of 2006 closely resembled the Kon-Tiki expedition sailing a balsa raft from Peru to Polynesia. Tangaroa outperformed Kon-Tiki by having an improved sail rig and by actively using guaras (centerboards). As such, the expedition represents a scientific continuation of Thor Heyerdahl's experiments in recreated maritime technology.
Norman Leonard Baker was a navigator on Thor Heyerdahl's Ra, Ra II and Tigris reed boat expeditions. He was the co-author of Thor Heyerdahl and the Reed Boat Ra, a 1974 children's book on the expeditions. He was a fellow and director of the Explorers Club, and served as an advisor to Fara Heim, an expedition searching for signs of Viking settlements in North America. Capt. Baker died when the Cessna 172 he was piloting crashed in Pittsford, Vermont on November 22, 2017.
Carlo Mauri was an Italian mountaineer and explorer.
The Kon-Tiki Museum is a museum in the Bygdøy peninsula in Oslo, Norway. It houses vessels and maps from the Kon-Tiki expedition, as well as a library with about 8,000 books. It was opened in a provisional building in 1949. In 1957, the current building—designed by architects F. S. Platou and Otto Torgersen—was opened. In 1978, an extension of the museum designed by Torgersen was opened.
Reed boats and rafts, along with dugout canoes and other rafts, are among the oldest known types of boats. Often used as traditional fishing boats, they are still used in a few places around the world, though they have generally been replaced with planked boats. Reed boats can be distinguished from reed rafts, since reed boats are usually waterproofed with some form of tar. As well as boats and rafts, small floating islands have also been constructed from reeds.
Henri Alfred Lavachery was a Belgian archaeologist and ethnologist. In 1934, he became the first professional archaeologist to visit Easter Island, and was later known for his study of its art. He was curator at the Royal Museums of Art and History during the 1940s, and founded the Society of Americanists in Belgium in 1928.
The Kon-Tiki Expedition: By Raft Across the South Seas is a 1948 book by the Norwegian writer Thor Heyerdahl. It recounts Heyerdahl's experiences with the Kon-Tiki expedition, where he travelled across the Pacific Ocean on a balsa tree raft. The book was first published in Norway on 2 November 1948, and sold out in 15 days. By 1961, the book had been translated into at least 55 languages. According to a 2013 movie about the expedition the book had been translated into more than 70 languages and sold more than 50 million copies.
Kon-Tiki is a 2012 historical drama film directed by Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg about the 1947 Kon-Tiki expedition. The film was mainly shot on the island of Malta. The role of Thor Heyerdahl is played by Pål Sverre Hagen. The film is an international co-production between Norway, Denmark, Germany, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.
A tankwa is a type of Ethiopian reed boat made from papyrus, used primarily in the area of Lake Tana.
Loo-Chi Hu was a Chinese-born New Zealand marine equipment designer, fisheries consultant and t'ai chi teacher. As well as being awarded the Queen's Service Medal, Huloo, as he was known, is notable for having sailed a 65 year old junk from Taiwan to America, despite never having crewed a sail ship before, as well as rescuing adventurous Norwegian sailor Thor Heyerdahl.
Santiago Genovés was a Spanish-born Mexican anthropologist who was affiliated with the National Autonomous University of Mexico. He is known for designing the 1973 "Peace Project" experiment, in which he and ten other people aimed to sail on the Acali raft from the Canary Islands to Mexico. He hoped that this experiment would shed light on the causes of violence in humans and on how it could be prevented. The 101-day experiment, frequently dubbed the "Sex Raft" by the media, was the subject of the 2018 documentary film The Raft, by Marcus Lindeen. He was also one of the researchers who originated, co-authored and signed the Seville Statement on Violence in 1986.
Abora is the name of several reed boats built by the German explorer Dominique Görlitz. The expeditions were inspired by previous trans-oceanic expeditions by the Norwegian explorer Thor Heyerdahl. Main aim of the Abora expeditions was to prove that a keel-less reed boat could be steered crosswise and against prevailing winds, using sideboards (leeboards) in lieu of a fixed keel. The name of the vessels was derived from the Canarian deity Abora.
