European explorers spent years fighting over where the Nile truly began

For centuries the source of the Nile was one of geography's great mysteries. In 1858, British explorer John Hanning Speke identified Lake Victoria as the river's source, a claim his expedition partner Richard Burton disputed for years, splitting the era's scientific establishment until later surveys largely confirmed Speke was right.

— John Hanning Speke, John Hanning Speke — expedition of 1858