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5000 BCE
Ancient people took to the seas
5000 BC ancient people took to the seas, historians hypothesize that they first used the sea as a source of food -
3200 BCE
Egyptians first Voyage
3200 BC Egyptians made their first voyage during reign of Pharaoh Snefru -
2750 BCE
Egyptians traveled around the Arabian Sea
2750 BC the Egyptians traveled around the Arabian Peninsula and the Red Sea -
1250 BCE
Evidence of the Polynesians Culture and Travel
2000 BC-500 BC there is evidence of Polynesians culture and travel, some other records found with this suggest their culture is much older -
1200 BCE
Phoenician Ships
1200 BC the earliest Phoenician Ship was found by archeologist off the coast of turkey -
800 BCE
Greek Charts
Greek Charts date to 800 BC -
500 BCE
Greek Ships
Advanced greek ships to around 500 BC -
450 BCE
Herodotus makes first full map
450 BC Herodotus made the first full map of the Mediterranean Sea -
400 BCE
Aristotle writes about a diving bell apparatus
Aristotle wrote of a diving bell apparatus in the 4th century BC about the renaissances in the 1500s -
945
The Vikings invaded Northern Europe
790-1100 the Vikings invaded and conquered societies throughout Northern Europe and established new trade routes -
982
Eric led the first transatlantic voyage
982 the first import voyage led by Eric the Red was the first transatlantic voyage and he discovered the Baffin Island region of Canada -
995
Leif Ericson discovered Newfoundland
995 Eric’s son Leif Ericson ventured even further west to settle what is now Newfoundland, Canada which he named Vinland at the time -
1100
Dark ages
800-1400 is referred to as the dark ages by many historians because europe seemed to go through a period of intellectual darkness -
1125
Chinese invented the compass
1125 Chinese invented the compass and 275 years later the Europeans understood the compass -
1450
Viking settlements collapsed in Greenland
1450 historians believe that the poor climate conditions resulted in the collapse of the Vikings settlements in Greenland and Iceland -
1450
Renaissance
14th-17th century renaissance, explorers embarked on numerous long ocean voyages. Portuguese dominated early exploration with Prince Henry of Portugal who used a compass to attempt a route to the east but he reached the southern tip of Africa. -
1487
Bartolomeu Dias completed a route similar to Prince Henry's
1487 Bartolomeu Dias followed a similar route to Prince Henry's and became the first European the complete the voyage around the Cape of Good Hope -
1499
Vasco da Gama followed on Prince Henry and Bartolomeu Dias' route
1499 Vasco da Gama had made it all the way around the Cape of Good Hope and onto India -
1507
Amerigo Vespucci discovered South America
1507 there was a map in honor of Amerigo Vespucci's achievements in the form of a map and the southern continent he discovered was labeled New World, South America. -
1535
Guglielmo de Lorena achieve Aristotle's vision
1535 Italian inventor named Guglielmo de Lorena built what historians believe to be the first diving bell -
1577
Francis Drake achieved Queen Elizabeth I's goal
1577 Francis Drake and his crew raided many Spanish settlements along the pacific coast of the Americas, he feared going back to through the Atlantic knowing that the Spanish would be awaiting his return so he went through Indonesia, around Southern Africa at the Cape of Good Hope -
1580
Francis Drake and his crew arrived home
1580 Francis Drake arrived home and was Knighted by Queen Elizabeth and riches for his journey. -
James Cook's First Voyage
1768 James Cook’s first voyage, he saw New Zealand and observed that rather than being a part of Australia, New Zealand was completely separate -
James Cook’s second voyage
1772 James Cook’s second voyage, his second voyage aboard the HMS Adventure and HMS Resolution he dealt with harsh winds and icebergs and eventually rounded the Cape of Good Hope. -
James Cook’s third voyage
1778 James Cook’s third voyage, his most famous Voyage aboard HMS Resolution, took him into the Pacific Ocean where he discovered many islands including the Hawaiian Islands. He continued north until he encountered icebergs and was forced to turn back. -
August Siebe developed hardhat diving helmets
1840 August Siebe developed hardhat diving helmets, the Augustus Siebe helmet gained a reputation for safety during its use on the wreck of the Royal George -
First Scuba was developed by Henry Fleuss
1878 Henry Fleuss developed the first scuba, which was a rebreather that recirculated pure oxygen while absorbing carbon dioxide through chemical reactions within tanks, divers realized this isn't safe and Fleuss’s initial SCUBA design fell out of favor. -
The Fram was stuck in the ice
1893 Fram was stuck in the ice, Fridjotf Nansen set out to reach the North Pole and his ship, The Fram, got stuck in ice for 3 years. -
German's developed a survey vessel meteor
1925 German survey vessel meteor crossed the Atlantic Ocean 14 times during a two year voyage -
US created the first enclosed submersible
1930s William Beebe and Otis Barton created the first fully enclosed submersible -
RV Atlantis was dispatched
1931 US dispatched its first oceanography research vessel RV Atlantis -
HMS Challenger II was launched
1932 UK launches its research vessel HMS Challenger II -
The French developed a safer version of SCUBA
1943 famous ocean explore Jacques-Yves Cousteau and Emile Gagnan developed a safer version of scuba -
British developed the first ROV
1950 the British Royal Navy developed the first ROV named cutlet to recover practice torpedoes -
Challenger II crew measures deepest known point on earth
1951 challenger II crew measures deepest known point on earth in the Mariana trench, 35,558 feet below the surface -
Nations work together for ocean research efforts
1951 many nations starts collaborating on ocean research efforts -
DSV Alvin was built
1956 the DSV Alvin was built by General Mills' Electronics Group in Minneapolis, Minnesota. But it was not fully launched for a few more years -
The Trieste was taken to where the Challenger II was
1960s researchers Don Walsh and Jacques Piccard dove the Trieste to the challenger deep. An abyss over 36,000 feet down in the Mariana trench. -
Deep sea drilling project took place
1968 deep sea drilling project built Glomar challenger to drill into the ocean floor -
JOIDES Resolution
1975 start of the international program of ocean drilling project called JOIDES Resolution (Joint Oceanographic Institutions for Deep Earth Sampling) a few years earlier in 1970 international decade of ocean exploration was declared -
US launched SEASAT
1978 the US launched SEASAT the first dedicated oceanography satellite -
US started using GPS
Late 1970s the US department of defense began using GPS to track objects on earth -
Expedition to find Titanic
1980 Dr. Robert Ballard led expedition in North Atlantic ocean to find RMS titanic shipwreck -
Discovery of the Titanic and detailed research
1985 Dr. Robert Ballard discovered the wreckage and continued detailed research of the site until 1986 -
Underwater habitat created by the NOAA
1987 NOAA created an underwater habitat called the Aquarius reef base off the coast of St. Croix in the Caribbean Ocean. Then in 1992 the moved the underwater habitat to Florida. -
Hunley wreckage discovered
1995 Clive Cussler discovered the Hunley wreckage off the coast of Charleston, South Carolina -
The Hunley was brought to the surface
2000 the entire ship was bright to the surface and restored -
Jason-1 was launched
2001 NASA launched the jason-1 satellite with a mission to help study climate change by measuring variations in the ocean surface water topography -
Study conducted in the Chesapeake Bay
2010 the US Navy lost four advs while conducting a study in the Chesapeake Bay -
NASA launched Aquarius
2011 NASA launched the satellite Aquarius that will monitor sea surface salinity