Horn, Cape

Horn, Cape, headland, 1,391 ft (424 m) high, S Chile, southernmost point of South America, in the archipelago of Tierra del Fuego. It was discovered and first rounded by Willem Schouten, the Dutch navigator, on Jan. 29, 1616, and named for Hoorn in the Netherlands. Lashing storms and strong currents made "rounding the Horn" one of the great hazards of sailing-ship days. With its cold and windy climate, it is still a formidable challenge to navigation.

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2012, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.