Luiz Váez de Torres, Portuguese seaman, remembered chiefly because the Torres Strait separating Australia from Papua New Guinea is named for him. The Torres Strait Islander people also perpetuate his name. The Torres Strait is the body of water which lies between Australia and Papua New Guinea. ... Torres Strait Islanders are the indigenous people of the Torres Strait Islands, part of Queensland, Australia. ...

Nothing is known of Torres's early life, but at some point he entered Spanish service and went to South America. In 1605 he sailed from Callao in Spanish Peru as second-in-command to Pedro Fernández de Quirós on their voyage of discovery to the south-west Pacific, with Torres in command of the "San Pedro." In May 1606 they reached the islands which Quirós named Austrialia de Espiritu Santo (now Vanuatu). Events April 13 - Tsar Boris Godunow dies - Feodor II accedes to the throne May 16 - Paul V becomes Pope June 1 - Russian troops in Moscow imprison Feodor II and his mother. ... For other uses, see Callao (disambiguation). ... Events January 27 - The trial of Guy Fawkes and other conspirators begins ending in their execution on January 31 May 17 - Supporters of Vasili Shusky invade the Kremlin and kill pretender Dmitri December 26 - Shakespeares King Lear performed in court Storm buries a village of St Ismails near...

While sailing around the islands Quirós's ship was swept out to sea, eventually returning to Mexico. After unsuccessfully searching for Quirós, and assuming him lost at sea, Torres resumed the intended voyage to Manila via the Moluccas. Manila (Maynila in Filipino) is the capital city of the Philippines. ... This page is about the geography and history of the island group in Indonesia — for the political entities encompassing the islands, see Maluku (Indonesian province) and North Maluku. ...

In June 1607 Torres set sail. Contrary winds prevented him taking the more direct route along the north coast of New Guinea, so he went via the south coast instead, through the 150km strait which now bears his name. For many years it was assumed that Torres took a route along the New Guinea coast, but in 1980 the Queensland historian and seaman Brett Hilder demonstrated that it was much more likely that Torres took a southerly route, from which he would certainly have seen Cape York, the northernmost extremity of Australia. Events January 20 - Tidal wave swept along the Bristol Channel, killing 2000 people. ...

Torres apparently spent the rest of his life in Manila. He left a written account of his journey which the Scottish geographer Alexander Dalrymple saw in 1769, and it was he who named the strait after Torres. James Cook knew of the strait and sailed through it after his discovery of the east coast of Australia in 1770. Alexander Dalrymple (July 24, 1737 - June 19, 1808 was a Scottish geographer. ... 1769 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... British explorer James Cook, portrait by Nathaniel Dance, c. ... 1770 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ...

Some of this information comes from the Discoverers Web website.