Alexander Gordon Laing
Explorer
The first European explorer to reach the fabled city of Timbuktu.
He was commissioned by the president of the African Association to travel along the Niger river to find its delta, which is how he came upon Timbuktu.
He never made it out of Timbuktu alive. He was murdered on his way out.
His father was a private teacher of the classics.
Two years after his attempt, Rene Caillie reached Timbuktu and made it out alive.