
Around the World in Seventy-Two Days
by Nellie Bly
'Around the World in Seventy-Two Days' Summary
In 1888, Bly suggested to her editor at the New York World that she take a trip around the world, attempting to turn the fictional Around the World in Eighty Days into fact for the first time. A year later, at 9:40 a.m. on November 14, 1889, she boarded the Augusta Victoria, a steamer of the Hamburg America Line, and began her 24,899-mile journey with the goal of finishing in 75 days.
She brought with her the dress she was wearing, a sturdy overcoat, several changes of underwear and a small travel bag carrying her toiletry essentials. She carried most of her money (£200 in English bank notes and gold in total as well as some American currency) in a bag tied around her neck.
The New York newspaper Cosmopolitan sponsored its own reporter, Elizabeth Bisland, to beat the time of both Phileas Fogg and Bly. Bisland would travel the opposite way around the world. Bly, however, did not learn of Bisland’s journey until reaching Hong Kong. She dismissed the cheap competition. "I would not race," she said. "If someone else wants to do the trip in less time that is their concern."
To sustain interest in the story, the World organized a "Nellie Bly Guessing Match" in which readers were asked to estimate Bly's arrival time to the second, with the Grand Prize consisting at first of a free trip to Europe and, later on, spending money for the trip.
On her travels around the world, Bly went through England; France, where she met Jules Verne in Amiens; Brindisi in southern Italy; the Suez Canal; Colombo in Ceylon; the Straits Settlements (British territories) of Penang and Singapore on the Malay Peninsula; Hong Kong; and Japan. The development of efficient submarine cable networks and the electric telegraph allowed Bly to send short progress reports, though longer dispatches had to travel by regular post and were thus often delayed by several weeks.
Bly travelled using steamships and the existing railroad systems, which caused occasional setbacks, particularly on the Asian leg of her race. During these stops, she visited a leper colony in Chinaand she bought a monkey in Singapore.
Book Details
Authors

Nellie Bly
United States
Elizabeth Cochrane Seaman better known by her pen name Nellie Bly, was an American journalist, industrialist, inventor, and charity worker who was widely known for her record-breaking trip around the...
Books by Nellie BlyDownload eBooks
Listen/Download Audiobook
- Select Speed
Related books

The National Geographic Magazine Vol. 09 by National Geographic Society
National Geographic (formerly the National Geographic Magazine, sometimes branded as NAT GEO) is the long-lived official monthly magazine of the Natio...

The First Voyage of James Cook Volume 1 by James Cook
Embark on an awe-inspiring journey across uncharted seas in "The First Voyage of James Cook Volume 1." Set sail with the legendary Captain James Cook,...

Malay Archipelago, Vol. 2 by Alfred Russel Wallace
Alfred Russel Wallace's *The Malay Archipelago* is a captivating account of his extensive travels throughout the islands of Southeast Asia. This two-v...

Kokoro: Hints and Echoes of Japanese Inner Life by Lafcadio Hearn
"The papers composing this volume treat of the inner rather than of the outer life of Japan, for which reason they have been grouped under the title K...

A Year Amongst the Persians by Edward Granville Browne
Edward Granville Browne travelled to Persia (Iran) as a young man who had already studied Farsi and Turkish, who was fascinated by the culture and lit...

National Geographic Magazine Vol. 01 No. 4 by National Geographic Society
This issue of the National Geographic Magazine, published in 1889, delves into a range of geographical and historical topics. It features articles on...

A Woman Who Went to Alaska by May Kellogg Sullivan
She went from a passenger on a nice cruiser to a dish washer where some of the passengers snubbing her when she'd taken a job dishwashing upon arrivin...

Boy Travellers on the Congo by Thomas Wallace Knox
In "Boy Travellers on the Congo", Thomas Wallace Knox takes young readers on a fictionalized journey through the heart of Africa. The story follows tw...

The Yosemite by John Muir
The Yosemite by John Muir was published in 1912. Born in Scotland, England, this world-famous conservationist was a multi-talented genius. He was a ge...

Civilization and Climate by Ellsworth Huntington
It is an intriguing and informative book that explores the fascinating relationship between climate and human civilization. This book delves into the...
Reviews for Around the World in Seventy-Two Days
No reviews posted or approved, yet...