Thor Heyerdahls reed boat Ra II, 1970.

NORWAY - JUNE 14: Model. Thor Heyerdahl (1914-2002) was a Norwegian anthropologist who undertook a variety of expeditions using boats manufactured according to ancient indigenous technologies. His aim was to prove that ancient seafarers had travelled much further than previously suspected. The Ra II was constructed of papyrus, and in 1970, Heyerdahl sailed the vessel from Safi, an ancient Phoenician port in Morocco, to Barbados. This expedition proved that it was quite possible that Columbus was not the first navigator to cross the Atlantic. Heyerdahl�s best-known exploit was probably the Kon-Tiki expedition of 1947, in which he crossed the Pacific from Peru to Polynesia on a balsa raft, taking 101 days to complete the journey. (Photo by SSPL/Getty Images)