Bering, Vitus, << BAIR ihng or BEER ihng, VEE tus >> (1680-1741), was a Danish navigator in the Russian Navy who led the first European expedition to explore a major part of Alaska’s coast. In 1728, Bering’s first attempt to sight Alaska failed when fog blocked his view from the channel later named the Bering Strait. From 1733 to 1741, Bering commanded a Russian project in which hundreds of people explored and mapped the Siberian coast of the Arctic Ocean. As part of this project, Bering made another attempt to explore Alaska. In 1741, he saw southeastern Alaska’s Mount St. Elias from his ship. He did not land, but he sailed along the Alaskan coast and charted much of it. On his return voyage, heavy fog forced him to land on present-day Bering Island, where he died of scurvy on Dec. 8, 1741. The Bering Sea, the Bering Strait, and Bering Island were named after him. Bering was born in Horsens, Denmark.
