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6700 BCE
Map of Catal Huyuk
A wall mural discovered in Catal Huyuk, Turkey depicts a volcano and village buildings. This may be the world's first map. -
3000 BCE
Babylonian Clay Tablets
Babylonian astronomers used geometry to track the orbit of Jupiter. -
600 BCE
Map of Babylon
A clay tablet showing a map of the city of Babylon. -
200 BCE
Circumference of the Earth
The scholar, Eratosthenes, an accomplished astronomer and mathematician, measures the circumference of the earth. -
150 BCE
Early Latitude and Longitude System
Hipparchus, a Greek astronomer and mathematician, develops a catalogue of the sky that includes celestial latitude and longitude. -
150
Ptolemy's World Map
Ptolemy was a Greek scholar that created a world map that included the continents Europe, Asia, and Africa. -
Apr 16, 1375
Catalan Atlas
Abraham Cresques and his son Jehudah authored the Catalan Atlas, considered a very important map in medieval times. It contained information on the known world including religious cities and navigational information. -
Sextant
A sextant is a navigational tool that measures the angle between an astronomical object and the horizon. It can be used to navigate a position line on a nautical chart. It was used by John Hadley in 1730. -
Prime Meridian
In 1884, the International Meridian Conference chooses Greenwich as the prime meridian. -
Modern Cartography: GIS and GPS
Modern cartography uses Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Global Positioning System (GPS). Maps are produced using satellite and aerial imagery. GPS is a global navigational tool that is based in space. GIS layers geographic information into maps. John Tomlinson is considered the "father of GIS." -
Al-Khwarizmi's World Map
Reworking Ptolemy's map and re-calculating the circumference of the earth, Al-Khwarizmi oversaw a team of geographers to make a new world map.
