* 선원 생활
* 23살 때 아메리카 대륙으로 항해
* 노예 상인
* (1568) 멕시코에 정박 중 스페인 전함의 공격으로 죽을 뻔함.
* 파나마 해협 부근에서 스페인 식민주의자들의 금과 은을 탈취. 해적 행위
Drake was considered a hero in England and a pirate in Spain for his raids.[32]
* 1575년 Rathlin Island(아일랜드 북쪽에 있는 섬) 학살에 깊이 관여. (직접 자행한 것은 아닌 듯)
Drake played a significant role in the Rathlin Island massacre in 1575
(Norreys set the terms of surrender,[3] whereupon the constable, his family, and one of the hostages were given safe passage and all other defending soldiers were killed, and on 26 July 1575, Norreys' forces hunted the old, sick, very young and women who were hiding in the caves.[3] Despite the surrender, they killed all the 200 defenders and more than 400 civilian men, women and children.[4] Sir Francis Drake was also charged with the task of preventing any Scottish reinforcement vessels reaching the Island.[4)
*1580년 영국으로 돌아옴. 그가 빼앗은 보물의 반은 여왕의 몫이었는데, 여왕의 한 해 수익을 넘는 액수.
On 26 September, Golden Hind sailed into Plymouth with Drake and 59 remaining crew aboard, along with a rich cargo of spices and captured Spanish treasures. The Queen's half-share of the cargo surpassed the rest of the crown's income for that entire year. Drake was hailed as the first Englishman to circumnavigate the Earth (and the second such voyage arriving with at least one ship intact, after Elcano's in 1520)
* 영국인으로서는 최초로 세계 일주.
*1581년. 기사 작위 수여
*1588년 - 스페인의 무적 함대와의 전투에서 스페인 함대 격파
*1596년 - 전투에서 패배. 이질로 사망.