Download Historical Events timeline

Historical Events Timeline
Ancient Events
2500-1200BC Crete: was the greatest
ancient seafaring nation controlling the
Eastern Mediterranian by the Minoans.
The Minoans established many islands
besides Crete such as Rhodes, and above
all, Thera (Santorini). They traded
primarily with Egypt. They navigated by
the sun and stars.
2210 BC
Yu the Great
 First monumental flood control works, Yangtze River,
ChinaDuring the reign of king Yao, the Chinese
heartland was frequently plagued by floods that
prevented further economic and social development.[13]
Yu's father, Gun, was tasked with devising a system to
control the flooding. He spent more than nine years
building a series of dikes and dams along the
riverbanks, but all of this was ineffective, despite (or
because of) the great number and size of these dikes
and the use of a special self-expanding soil. Yu made a
system of irrigation canals which relieved floodwaters
into the fields.
2000-300BC
Phoenicia – Modern day Lebanon.
Established many colonies: traders
between Asia Minor and the West as far
as Britain and the Baltic Sea
Odyssey
 Was a poetic recount of Odysseus’ tenyear voyage home after the Trojan War
484-425 BC
Herodotus: The “Father of History”.
published accurate map of
Mediterranean region
240 BC
 Eratosthenes calculated the
circumference of the Earth to be
40,000 km. It actually is 40,032
km
In the Middle Ages
Vikings crossed the North
Atlantic to colonize
Iceland, Greenland, and
Newfoundland using the
North Star to determine
latitude.
970-1030 AD
Erik the Red and later, his son Leif
Eriksson sailed to Greenland then to
Vinland (Newfoundland)
The Age Of Discovery 1250-1750
1254-1324 Marco Polo – was a
Venetian; as a young man, he spent life
with his uncle and father in Kublai
Khan’s court. He inspired Columbus.
1371-1435
Chinese: to influence and impress
their neighbors
Zeng He – Greatest Chinese
seafarer. Was a Muslim eunuch. Led
fleets throughout the Indian Ocean,
Arabia, Eastern Africa, Malacca and
possibly the Atlantic Ocean
1394-1460 Henry the Navigator
Was a Portuguese prince and a patron of
cartography; motivated by exploration to
increase Portugal’s
wealth; was a science
sponsor and not a
mapmaker
1451-1500 Bartolomue Diaz
Was the first European to round the Cape
of Good Hope in 1488
1451-1506 Columbus
Sailed westward across the Atlantic to
reach the Far East; Discovered the
Caribbean Islands; 4 voyages; Claimed
lands for Spain sponsored by Queen
Isabella; promised wealth but died
penniless
1454-1512 Amerigo Vespucci
Florentine observer for Portuguese;
reported on South American voyages in
letters; Waldseemuller’s map named
America for him; was Chief Navigator of
Spain; founded the School of Navigation;
developed rudimentary longitude
calculations; died of malaria
1469-1524 Vasco de Gama
Established sea route to India for trade
and colonization by Portugal. Died of
malaria
1480-1521 Ferdinand Magellan
Portuguese explorer killed in the
Philippines; named the Pacific (peaceful)
Ocean
1491-1557 Jacques Cartier
French; explored the St. Lawrence
Seaway; claimed Canada for France
1540-1596 Sir Frances Drake
First Englishman to sail around the
world; the Golden Hind raided Spanish
Ports
1692-1776 John Harrison
Invented the chronometer. Calculated
longitude at sea
th
18
Century 1728-1779
Captain James Cook made 4 voyages to
chart the Pacific Ocean looking for
Antarctica. Was the
first to use a chronometer.
Discovered New Zealand;
Killed in Hawaii
Skilled in trig, algebra,
Astronomy and navigation
1706-1790 – Benjamin Franklin
Compiled data on ocean currents
working with whaler cousin Folger;
named and charted the Gulf Stream
19th Century The Modern Age
1806-1873 Lt. Matthew Maury
Professor at Virginia Military Institute;
called the Pathfinder of the Seas; Works
included whaling, meteorology, sea lanes,
abolition of slavery, first superintendent
of US Naval Observatory; proposed the
US Naval Academy in Annapolis
1831 – Charles Darwin
Voyage of the HMS Beagle which led to
the origin of species. Developed the
hypothesis on evolution of the species.
1815-1854 Edward Forbes
Developed the “Azoic Theory”.
There is no life beyond 300 fathoms
Sir Charles Wyville Thompson
1872 – Scotsman: led HMS Challenger
on a 3 ½ year expedition that gathered
more data in its time than all other data
to date.
Discovered deep ocean life, currents and
variations like the Mid Atlantic Ridge
and trenches.
From the Univ. of Edinburgh
Sir John Murry
Was also on the HMS Challenger
Father of Oceanography
Finished the report after Thompson’s
death
Worked at the Univ. of Edinburg
1872-1876 HMS Challenger
Expedition
Was outfitted with chemistry and
biological labs; logged over 70,000
nautical miles
Identified over 4,000 new species
First to measure the depth of the Marianas
Trench by soundings.
Charles William Beebe
Along with Otis Barton descended to the
record depth of 923 m in 1934 in a
bathysphere
Tropical ecology with the NY Zoological
Society Tropical Research Station,
Trinidad
Alfred Wegener
German, Humboldt Univ. Berlin;
Meteorologist, geologist; proposed the
theory of “continental drift” in 1912
Coined the term Pangaea
Otis Barton
A naturalist and inventor
Invented the bathysphere
Rear Adm. Harry Hess
Chair of the Geology Dept, Princeton
Captain of the USS Cape Johnson during
WWII.
Used sonar to map anomalies in the
Pacific discovering flat-topped extinct
volcanoes he called guyots
Called seafloor spreading as plate
tectonics
Jacques Cousteau
Co-developed the aqualung later to be
called SCUBA
Had the TV series The Undersea World
of Jacques Cousteau
Leased the wood-hulled minesweeper
Calypso
Jacques Piccard
Swiss engineer, designed the Trieste, a
bathyscaphe
Explored the Challenger Deep in the
Mariana’s Trench
The outer window cracked at 30,000’
The Challenger
Expedition
measured the
depth of the
Marianas Trench
(~8185 m) in the
Pacific Ocean
about 200 miles
SW of Guam.
Robert Ballard
Had a BS from UC Santa Barbara
PhD in Marine Geology from the Woods
Hole Oceanographic Institute; joined
Piccard in the Ben Franklin.
Was the first to see fumaroles
Discovered the RMS Titanic, the
Bismarck, the USS Yorktown and PT 109
Inventions
SONAR-Sound Navigation and Ranging
for sea-floor mapping and underwater
navigation
Aqualung later called SCUBA, coinvented by Jacques Cousteau
Alvin- submersible owned by USN;
recovered the H-bomb from the
Mediterranean Sea. Has a titanium hull
JASON- satellite used to map ocean
currents; named for the Greek hero Jason
Joint operation between NASA and CNES
ROV – remote operated vehicle for
underwater exploration
MULTIBEAM SOUNDING INSTRUMENTS
allow precision images produced from
reflections of the seafloor. Includes SONAR,
DOPPLER and LASER
SEASAT – Satellite used by NASA
1985 - JASON
Satellite
that found
and
documented
the wreck of
the Titanic