Born 1841,
Denbigh, Wales
Died May 9, 1904,
London, England

Considered the greatest of all African explorers, Henry Morton Stanley led a life of adventure and daring, and had a flare for being in the middle of controversy. Henry Morton Stanley was not his real name—he was born John Rowlands in Denbigh, Wales, in 1841, one of five children his mother bore out of wedlock. He lived with his grandfather until the age of six when, upon his grandfather’s death, Rowlands was sent to St. Asaph Union Workhouse. At 17 Rowlands secured a job as cabin boy and jumped ship in New Orleans to escape the brutality on board. When Rowlands was adopted by a New Orleans cotton merchant named Henry Morton Stanley in 1859, the young man took his benefactor’s name and nationality.

Has many adventures

Stanley was forced to join the Confederate...