Walter Raleigh
In 1594, Raleigh heard of a "City of Gold" in South America and sailed to find it, writing an exaggerated story of his trip in a book. He explored North Carolina all the way down to Florida. This book made people believe in the legend of "El Dorado". After Queen Elizabeth died in 1603, Raleigh was put in prison because he was accused of trying to overthrow King James I, who did not like Raleigh. In 1616, he was released to go look for El Dorado again. This was unsuccessful, and Raleigh's men attacked a Spanish outpost. He returned to England. The Spanish were upset, so to calm them, England arrested Raleigh and executed him by beheading (decapitation) on 29 October 1618.