Marco Polo

Marco Polo was a Venetian merchant, explorer and writer who travelled through Asia along the Silk Road between 1271 and 1295. His travels are recorded in The Travels of Marco Polo, a book that described to Europeans the then-mysterious culture and inner workings of the Eastern world, including the wealth and great size of the Mongol Empire and China under the Yuan dynasty, giving their first comprehensive look into China, Persia, India, Japan, and other locations throughout Asia.

15 September 1254

Born on the same birth day (15 September): Bruce Reitherman • Buddy Jeannette • C. N. Annadurai • Frederick C. Weyand • Henry Silva • Jenna Marbles • Ksenia Milicevic • Leander Jordan • Mauro Piacenza • Patrick Marleau • Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay • Sonja Branting-Westerståhl • Steve Watkin • Terry McLaurin • Tim Moltzen • Umberto II of Italy • Viggo Jensen (footballer, born 1947)