John Davis (1543—December 29 1605), was one of the chief English navigators and explorers under Elizabeth I, especially in Polar regions.

Davis (Davys) was born at Sandridge near Dartmouth 1543. From a boy he was a sailor, and early went on voyages with Adrian Gilbert; both the Gilbert and Raleigh families were Devonians of his own neighbourhood, and through life he seems to have profited by their friendship.

In January 1583 he appears to have broached his design of a Northwest Passage to Francis Walsingham and John Dee; various consultations followed; and in 1585 he started on his first north-western expedition. On this he began by encountering the ice-bound east shore of Greenland, which he followed south to Cape Farewell; thence he turned north once more and coasted the west Greenland littoral some way, until, finding the sea free from ice, he shaped a course for China going north-west. In 66° N, however, he encountered Baffin Island, and though he pushed some way up Cumberland Sound, and professed to recognize in this the hoped strait, he now turned back (end of August).

He tried again in 1586 and 1587; in the last voyage he pushed through the straits still named after him into Baffin Bay, coasting west Greenland to 73° N., almost to Upernavik, and thence making a last effort to find a passage westward along the north of America. Many points in Arctic latitudes (Cumberland Sound, Cape Walsingham, Exeter Sound, etc) retain names given them by Davis, who ranks with William Baffin and Henry Hudson as the greatest of early Arctic explorers and, like Martin Frobisher, narrowly missed the discovery of Hudson Bay via Hudsons Straits (the Furious Overfall of Davis).

In 1588 he seems to have commanded the Black Dog against the Spanish Armada; in 1589 he joined the earl of Cumberland off the Azores; and in 1591 he accompanied Thomas Cavendish on his last voyage, with the special purpose, as he tells us, of searching that north-west discovery upon the back parts of America. After the rest of Cavendish's expedition returned unsuccessful, he continued to attempt on his own account the passage of the Strait of Magellan; though defeated here by foul weather, he discovered the Falkland Islands in August 1592 aboard the vessel Desire. His crew was forced to kill around 124,000 penguins, though in his biography it is said that they killed 125,510 penguins, for food while on the Falkland Islands. They stored the penguin meat as well as they could and sailed for home, but the meat spoiled once they reached the tropics. This made the passage home disastrous, and he brought back only fourteen of his seventy-six men.

After his return in 1593 he published a valuable treatise on practical navigation in The Seaman's Secrets (1594), and a more theoretical work in The World's Hydrographical Description (1595). His invention of backstaff and double quadrant (called a Davis Quadrant after him) held the field among English seamen till long after Hadley's reflecting quadrant had been introduced. In 1596-1597 Davis seems to have sailed with Raleigh (as master of Sir Walter's own ship) to Cádiz and the Azores; and in 1598-1600 he accompanied a Dutch expedition to the East Indies as pilot, sailing from Flushing, returning to Middleburg, and narrowly escaping destruction from treachery at Achin in Sumatra.

In 1601-1603 he accompanied Sir James Lancaster as first pilot on his voyage in the service of the British East India Company; and in December 1604 he sailed again for the same destination as pilot to Sir Edward Michelborne (or Michelbourn). On this journey he was killed by Japanese pirates off Bintang near Sumatra.

John Davis (January 13, 1787 – April 19, 1854) was an American lawyer and politician.

Born January 13, 1787 in Northborough, Massachusetts, graduated from Yale College in 1812, where he was one of the four founding members of the Skull and Dagger secret society. He later practiced law in Worcester, Massachusetts.

Represented Massachusetts in the U.S. House of Representatives from March 4 1825, to January 14 1834, when he resigned, having been elected Governor.

He served as the Whig Governor of Massachusetts from 1834 to 1835. Elected as an Anti-Jacksonian (later Whig) to the United States Senate and served from March 4 1835 to January 5 1841, when he resigned. He chaired the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce.

Again he served as Governor of Massachusetts from 1841-1843 and again elected in 1845 to the U.S. Senate, as a Whig, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Isaac C. Bates; reelected in 1847 and served from March 24, 1845, to March 3, 1853; declined to be a candidate for renomination in 1852, and retired from public life;

He died in Worcester, Massachusetts on April 19, 1854, aged 67; interment in the Rural Cemetery.

He married Eliza Bancroft and they were the parents of John Chandler Bancroft Davis and Horace Davis; he was also great-great grandfather of Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr.

Eliza Bancroft was the daughter of distinguished revolutionary soldier, leading Unitarian clergyman and author of a popular life of George Washington Aaron Bancroft. Her brother George Bancroft was an American historian and statesman who was prominent in promoting secondary education both in his home state and at the national level.

John Andrew Davis (born April 7, 1953) is an American film producer and founder of Davis Entertainment. He is the son of former 20th Century Fox owner Marvin Davis.

John Davis, born in Tennessee, was a founding member of the rock band, Superdrag. Davis' primary roles in the band were that of songwriter, singer and lead guitarist. By the time Superdrag was beginning work on their fourth full-length record, Davis was an alcoholic. One night as Davis was driving, he felt the presence of God. Davis gave up alcohol at that moment, and turned his life to Christianity. This inspired the metaphoric title of Superdrag's fourth album, Last Call For Vitriol. On March 8, 2005, Davis released his first solo album, playing all instruments on the record, with the exception of some bowed strings and percussion. The self-titled record, John Davis is a combination of his signature pop melodies and a devout faith in God. In March 2006, John put alternate versions of the songs from his album on his blank">website. Davis has finished recording his second solo album titled Arigato!, which was released October 2, 2007, at shows and by pre-order. He is also currently a member of the _Christian rock band My Red Hot Nightmare, where he is a guitarist, backing vocalist, and second string drummer.

John Sydney Davis (1817-30 September 1893) was an early pastoralist and MLC in colonial Western Australia.

Born in Galway, Ireland in 1817, nothing is known of his life until he arrived in Western Australia on board the Trusty in about 1842. Initially he lived at Australind, then moved to Hotham River to manage William Burges' station there. Later he was at York in partnership with Robert de Burgh.

In 1850, Davis joined a group of pastoralists including Major Logue, William and Lockier Burges, and Thomas and Kenneth Brown, in overlanding stock from York to Greenough. From 1852 he was partner in a lease of Glengarry, and the following year he settled at Tibradden. In 1854 he married Sarah Heal at Fremantle. In 1858 he became a Justice of the Peace.

On 12 March 1884, John Davis was elected to the Western Australian Legislative Council seat of Geraldton in a by-election. He held the seat until 27 October 1884. He died at Tibradden on 30 September 1893.

Sir John Davis (1906-1993) was an English accountant and film executive.

He was the right hand man of J. Arthur Rank at the Rank Organisation for many years. He became Chairman on Rank's retirement and steered the company away from near bankruptcy to a strong financial position, by diversifying the group into different fields.

He was married five times and among his wives was the actress Dinah Sheridan (1954-1965).

Captain John Davis (*1784 in Surrey, England) was a seal hunter from Connecticut, USA who claimed to have set foot on Antarctica on February 7, 1821 shortly after the first sightings of the new continent by Fabian von Bellingshausen, Mikhail Petrovich Lazarev, Edward Bransfield and Nathaniel Palmer.

Davis and his crew from the American sealing ship, Cecilia, claim to have landed at Hughes Bay (64°01'S) looking for seals for less than an hour. The ships logbook entry reads:

These men were the first recorded humans to have claimed to have set foot on the new continent of Antarctica. However, modern historians are doubtful as to his claim .

The Davis Sea, part of the Southern Ocean, was named after him. Also, the coastal strip where the men were alleged to have gone ashore is called Davis Coast.

John Henry Davis (born January 12 1921 - died July 13, 1984) was an Olympic weightlifter for the United States. He was self coached.

John Davis, American jurist (b. January 25, 1761, Plymouth, Massachusetts - d. January 14 1847, Boston, Massachusetts), first received a private education, then attended and graduated from the University of Harvard (1777 - 1781).

He then studied law in Bridgewater, Massachusetts, was admitted to the bar in 1786, and began his private law practice in Plymouth. In 1788 he was selected as a delegate from Plymouth to the Massachusetts state convention, called to consider adoption of the Federal Constitution. He was elected and served three times in the Massachusetts House of Representatives, then in 1795 became state senator of Plymouth County.

Later that year he accepted President George Washington's request to serve as Comptroller of the Treasury of the United States, a position he resigned from in 1796 over matters of salary. Washington then appointed him United States Attorney for the district of Massachusetts.

Subsequently he moved permanently to Boston. From 1801-1841 he served as President John Adams' appointed judge of the United States district court for the district of Massachusetts. His probable most noted achievement was his wise handling of the law in reguards to commercial merchantile embarrassment of New England at the time of an embargo and the War of 1812 which instilled the community's confidence in the law.

In addition to his legal career, he pursued an interest in scientific phenomena and was deeply interested in New England history and antiquity. He served as president of the Massachusetts Historical Society (1818-1835) and was said to be the first person to the Plymouth colonists as pilgrims in his ode to an anniversary celebration in 1794. He was a Fellow of both the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a Fellow (1803), treasurer (1810) and member of the board of overseers (1827-1836).

John Davis (August 7, 1788-April 1, 1878) was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania.

John Davis was born in Solebury Township, Pennsylvania. He moved to Maryland and settled on a farm at Rock Creek Meeting House in 1795. He returned to Pennsylvania in 1812 and settled in what is now Davisville, Pennsylvania. He engaged in agricultural and mercantile pursuits. He served as a served as captain in the War of 1812. He rose to the rank of major general of militia.

Davis was elected as a Democrat to the Twenty-sixth Congress. He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1840 to the Twenty-seventh Congress. He was appointed surveyor of the port of Philadelphia by President James K. Polk and served from 1845 to 1849. He resumed his former business activities and died in Davisville in 1878. Interment in Davisville Baptist Church Cemetery in Bucks County, Pennsylvania.

John Davis (born 1936) was an Australian sculptor and pioneer of Environmental art. An Australian exponent of Arte povera, he famously developed a new mode of Site-specific art at the Mildura Sculpture Triennial in the early 1970s. His most influential work, which was entitled Tree Piece, was made by encasing the trunks of several growing trees on the banks of the Murray River with, alternately, papier mache, mud, latex, coiled string, plastic cling wrap, and twigs bound together. The impermanent work was then allowed to weather and rot away. It was a breakthrough which lead many sculptors to reconsider the fate of outdoor works, and whether the fabrication of art might in some way adversely impact on the environment. Taking his cues from Aboriginal artifacts, Davis later became chiefly known for tender assembled works made of natural materials, including leaves and twigs, which highlight the fragile beauty of nature.

Another Australian sculptor Andrew Rogers also works with the environment to create sculptures.His 'Rhythms of Life' project is the largest contemporary land-art undertaking in the world, forming a chain of stone sculptures, or geoglyphs, around the globe. Monumental geoglyphs have been constructed in seven countries to date: Israel, Chile, Bolivia, Sri Lanka, Australia, Iceland and China. Future locations will include India, the United States, United Kingdom and Eastern Europe. By completion, the project will have involved over 5,000 people on six continents.

The Rhythms of Life sculptures are optimistic metaphors for the eternal cycle of life and regeneration, expressive and suggestive of human striving and introspection. The geoglyphs embrace a wide cultural vision that links memory and various symbols derived from ancient rock carvings, paintings and legends in each region; they punctuate time and extend history into the distant future while delving into the depths of our heritage in pursuit of the spiritual. The exhibition at the Akureyri Art Museum in Iceland is the first general survey of the project.

John Davis (1854 - August 19 1903) was a United States Navy sailor and a recipient of America's highest military decoration, the Medal of Honor.

John Henry Davis (born August 22, 1965 in Ellijay, Georgia) is a former American football offensive lineman in the NFL, mainly for the Buffalo Bills. He played in Super Bowl XXV, Super Bowl XXVII, and Super Bowl XXVIII. He was also with the Bills for Super Bowl XXVI, but did not play in the game due to a knee injury.

John Percy Davis (26 January 1884 - 16 February 1951) was an English cricketer who played four first-class matches for Worcestershire in 1922. His only significant performance was the 38 not out he made against Warwickshire in the second innings of his debut match.

Davis was born in Lye, Worcestershire; he died at the age of 67 in nearby Heath, Stourbridge.

His brother Major Davis played once for Worcestershire in 1911.

John F. Davis III is a billionaire entrepreneur tycoon and is currently the chairman and top executive of Pegasus Solutions Inc. John graduated Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas and began his business-career in 1978 when he served as president of Mid-South Drilling Co. Soon after, he founded 1-800-Flowers, a toll-free ordering system for the floral industry.

Davis sold that company and founded ATC Communications and in 1989, he launched the Pegasus Electronic Distribution Switch technology, a system created to link central reservation systems for hotels with major global airline distribution systems.

In growing Pegasus, Davis had to get participation from some of the world's largest hotel chains, many of which were arch rivals. His ability to get these companies to see beyond competitive issues, grasp how automation and technology could serve the industry as a whole was, observers say, paramount to Pegasus' initial success.

In 2000, he led Pegasus' acquisition of REZsolutions Inc., a marketing and reservation provider in the hotel industry. As a result of the acquisition, Pegasus grew from 150 employees to 1,500 employees in 11 countries.

His latest initiative as chief executive of Pegasus includes the creation of Travelweb L.L.C., formerly known as Hotel Distribution System.

"I believe in delegating," Davis said. "And, I want to make sure that everyone (in the company) has the tools they need to be successful."

Davis serves on the boards of Pegasus and TRX Inc. and on the board of trustees of Texas Christian University.

John Horsley Russell Davis (1938-) is a British anthropologist, Warden of All Souls College, Oxford, and Professor of Social Anthropology in the University of Oxford.

John Davis was born in London on 9 September 1938.

He was educated at University College, Oxford (BA Modern History 1961, MA) and the London School of Economics (PhD Social Anthropology 1968).

He was elected a Fellow of the British Academy in 1988.

He was appointed Professor of Social Anthropology in the University of Oxford and Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford in 1990 and was elected Warden of All Souls in 1995.

He was Chairman of the European Association of Social Anthropologists 1993/94 and President of the Royal Anthropological Institute from 1997 until 2001.

He nominated his immediate predecessor as Warden, Patrick Neill, Baron Neill of Bladen, for the office of Chancellor of the University of Oxford.

John Davis (August 9, 1826 - August 1, 1901) was a U.S. Representative from Kansas.

Born near Springfield, Illinois, Davis moved with his parents to Macon County in 1830. He attended the country schools, Springfield Academy, and Illinois College, Jacksonville, Illinois. He engaged in agricultural and horticultural pursuits near Decatur, Illinois. He moved to Kansas in 1872 and located on a farm near Junction City. Secretary of the Central Kansas Horticultural Society for many years.

Davis was elected president of the first distinctive farmers' convention held in Kansas in 1873, out of which grew the Farmers' Cooperative Association, of which he was the first president. He served as president of the Grange convention in 1874. He became proprietor and editor of the Junction City Tribune in 1875. He was an unsuccessful candidate of the Greenback Party for election in 1880 to the Forty-seventh Congress and in 1882 to the Forty-eighth Congress.

Davis was elected as a Populist to the Fifty-second and Fifty-third Congresses (March 4, 1891-March 3, 1895). He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1894 to the Fifty-fourth Congress. Devoted his time to literary work until his death in Topeka, Kansas, August 1, 1901. He was interred in Topeka Cemetery.

John Henry Davis (born 10 November 1954 in Oxford, England) is a former international motorcycle speedway rider who represented England when they won the World Team Cup in 1977.

John Kirk Davis (born January 1, 1963 in Chicago, Illinois) is a retired Major League Baseball pitcher. He played during four seasons at the major league level for the Kansas City Royals, Chicago White Sox, and San Diego Padres. He was drafted by the Royals in the 7th round of the amateur draft. Davis played his first professional season with their Rookie league Gulf Coast Royals in , and his last season with the White Sox's Triple-A affiliate, the Nashville Sounds, in .