1875-1956

American Explorer and Educator

Hiram Bingham spent several years traveling throughout South America. On his most noteworthy expedition, he set out to find the capital city of the Incan descendants, but instead discovered on July 24, 1911, Machu Picchu, an area deep in the South American interior that is filled with the ruins of one-time Incan palaces, a temple, and other buildings.

Bingham was born on Nov. 19, 1875, in Honolulu, Hawaii, into a long-time family of the islands. The son of retired missionaries, he went to school at Punahou School and Oahu College in Hawaii before continuing his education on the mainland. From 1892-1905 he studied successively at Phillips Academy in Massachusetts, Yale University, the University of California at Berkeley, and finally Harvard University, where he earned his doctorate in Latin American history. He ultimately took positions teaching history at Harvard, Yale, and Princeton universities.

Fresh out of...