Francis Drake was an English explorer and privateer born in 1540 who became famous for being the first Englishman to circumnavigate the globe. As a privateer attacking Spanish ships and towns, he amassed great wealth for himself and England by plundering Spanish gold and silver, though the Spanish viewed him as a pirate. He later led a successful English fleet against the Spanish Armada. Drake held various accomplishments and titles, including serving in Parliament, but spent much of his life at sea attacking Spanish interests until his death in 1596 in Panama.