Marco Polo
Marco Polo, (1254-1324). Venetian merchant and adventurer, who travelled extensively in Europe and, Asia, With his father and uncle he went overland through Baghdad and the Gobi Desert to China (1271-75), where he became ambassador to Kublai Khan, the Mongol emperor. He eventually returned to Venice in 1295. In 4298 he was captured in a sea battle; while imprisoned in Genoa he wrote a detailed account of his travels and adventures.
