Northwest Passage

The Northwest Passage is a fictional passageway between Europe and northern Russia by way of the Artic Ocean. Many explorers, like John Cabot and Henry Hudson, spent most of their lives trying to find the Northwest Passage, without realizing that it was in fact fictional --- there is nothing but land in the way! However, the search for the Northwest Passage led to many great discoveries, such as Cortez's discovery of the Pacific, and the Lewis and Clark expedition (also to the Pacific, but much later).

Some liberal scientists claim that a "new Northwest Passage" is being formed by the melting of sea ice in the North Atlantic and Artic oceans, although if there is such a passage, it hasn't shown up yet on maps.