-
236
B.C., Eratosthenes
He was the first person to use the word "geography" and invented the discipline of geography as we understand it.[3] He invented a system of latitude and longitude. -
247
B.C., Compass
A compass is a navigational instrument for determining direction relative to the Earth's magnetic poles. It consists of a magnetized pointer (usually marked on the North end) free to align itself with Earth's magnetic field. The compass greatly improved the safety and efficiency of travel, especially ocean travel
The compass was invented in ancient China around 247 B.C., and was used for navigation by the 11th century. The dry compass was invented in medieval Europe around 1300.[1] This was sup -
325
B.C. Pytheas
He made a voyage of exploration to northwestern Europe at about 325 BC. He travelled around and visited a considerable part of Great Britain. Some of his observations may be the earliest report of Stonehenge -
Jan 4, 1210
B.C., Naval Warfare
The first dateable recorded sea battle occurred about 1210 BC: Suppiluliuma II, king of the Hittites, defeated a fleet from Cyprus, and burned their ships at sea.
Mankind has fought battles on the sea for more than 3,000 years. Land warfare would seem, initially, to be irrelevant and entirely removed from warfare on the open ocean, though this is not necessarily true. Land navigation, until the advent of extensive railroads was extremely dependent upon river systems and canals. -
Jan 4, 1300
B.C., Piracy
Piracy is a war-like act committed by private parties (not affiliated with any government) that engage in acts of robbery and/or criminal violence at sea.
It may be reasonable to assume that piracy has existed for as long as the oceans were plied for commerce
The earliest documented instances of piracy are the exploits of the Sea Peoples who threatened the Aegean and Mediterranean in the 13th century BC -
Jan 4, 1420
Prince Henry the Navigator
As a second fruit of this work João Gonçalves Zarco, Bartolomeu Perestrelo and Tristão Vaz Teixeira rediscovered the Madeira Islands in 1420, and at Henry's instigation Portuguese settlers colonized the islands -
Jan 4, 1477
Ptolemy
In the 15th century Ptolemy's Geographia began to be printed with engraved maps; the earliest printed edition with engraved maps was produced in Bologna in 1477, followed quickly by a Roman edition in 1478 (Campbell, 1987). An edition printed at Ulm in 1482, including woodcut maps, was the first one printed north of the Alps. -
Jan 4, 1490
SONAR
technique that uses sound propagation (usually underwater, as in Submarine navigation) to navigate, communicate with or detect other vessels -
Aug 10, 1519
Ferdinand Magellan
On August 10, 1519, the five ships under Magellan's command – Trinidad, San Antonio, Concepción, Victoria and Santiago – left Seville and descended the Guadalquivir River to Sanlúcar de Barrameda, at the mouth of the river. There they remained more than five weeks. Finally they set sail on September 20. -
The Kraken
Kraken ( /ˈkreɪkən/ or /ˈkrɑːkən/)[1] are legendary sea monsters of gargantuan size, said to have dwelt off the coasts of Norway and Iceland. The sheer size and fearsome appearance attributed to the beasts have made them common ocean-dwelling monsters in various fictional works -
Benjamin Franklin
Franklin published his Gulf Stream chart in 1770 in England, where it was completely ignored. Subsequent versions were printed in France in 1778 and the U.S. in 1786. The British edition of the chart, which was the original, was so thoroughly ignored that everyone assumed it was lost forever until Phil Richardson, a Woods Hole Oceanographer and Gulf Stream expert, discovered it in Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris.[22][23] This find received front page coverage in the New York Times. -
Matthew Maury
He was nicknamed Pathfinder of the Seas and Father of modern Oceanography and Naval Meteorology and later, Scientist of the Seas, due to the publication of his extensive works in his books, especially Physical Geography of the Sea 1855, the first extensive and comprehensive book on oceanography to be published. Maury made many important new contributions to charting winds and ocean currents, including ocean lanes for passing ships at sea. -
Challenger Expedition
The ship, commanded by Captain George Nares, sailed from Portsmouth, England, on 21 December 1872.[1] Under the scientific supervision of Thomson himself, she travelled nearly 70,000 nautical miles (130,000 km) surveying and exploring. The result was the Report Of The Scientific Results of the Exploring Voyage of H.M.S. Challenger during the years 1873-76 which, among many other discoveries, catalogued over 4,000 previously unknown species. John Murray, who supervised the publication, described -
Bathysphere
The first bathysphere was devised by Otis Barton in 1928.[1][2] The vessel was designed by Captain John H. J. Butler, an engineer with Cox & Stevens, Inc., the firm that Barton hired in 1929 to construct his "diving tank". The casting of the steel sphere was handled by Watson Stillman Hydraulic Machinery Company in Roselle, New Jersey. After the first version proved to be too heavy to be practical, the final, lighter design consisted of a hollow sphere of 1-inch-thick (25 mm) cast steel which wa -
Bermuda Triangle
The earliest allegation of unusual disappearances in the Bermuda area appeared in a September 16, 1950 Associated Press article by Edward Van Winkle Jones.[2] Two years later, Fate magazine published "Sea Mystery At Our Back Door",[3] a short article by George X. Sand covering the loss of several planes and ships, including the loss of Flight 19, a group of five U.S. Navy TBM Avenger bombers on a training mission.
