May 04

John Hanning Speke was an English soldier and explorer whose journeys in East Africa in the mid-19th century reshaped geographical knowledge. In partnership with Richard Burton, he ventured into uncharted regions, enduring harsh conditions to map river systems and ethnic territories. Speke's most notable achievement was reaching Lake Victoria in 1858 and proposing it as the Nile River's source. His conclusions sparked controversy and debate among contemporaries, leading to a public rift with Burton. Speke continued his explorations until his untimely death in 1864, leaving a complex legacy in the history of African exploration.