-
Aug 3, 1492
Christopher Columbus
Set sail with 88 men and three ships from the Canary Islands, their first glimse of the New World came on October 12, 1492. -
Period: Aug 3, 1492 to
Ocean Explorations
-
May 12, 1519
Ferdinand Magellan
His ship, Victoria, sailed from Spain in 1519 on a journey to circumnavigate the globe. When Magellan was killed by natives in the Phillipines, Sebastian del Cano completed the journey on September 6, 1522. -
Captain Christopher Newport
Captain Christopher Newport (1560? - 1617) was an English privateer and navigator who transported colonists to the first permanent English colony in America, Jamestown, and sailed back and forth from England to the New World five times between 1606 and 1611, transporting both supplies and colonists. -
Henry Hudson
In 1609 Hudson was chosen by merchants of the Dutch East India Company in the Netherlands to find an easterly passage to Asia. He was told to sail through the Arctic Ocean into the Pacific. His ship was the Halve Maen, and he did not make it to Asia because of ice blocking his path. The Hudson River is named after him. -
Edmund Halley
English astronomer Edmund Halley makes what may be the first scientific voyage to study the variation of the magnetic compass. During his voyages, he also makes important contributions to the understanding of the trade winds. -
Chevalier de Beauve
Chevalier de Beauve, a guard in the French Navy, develops a waterproof suit with lead shoes. Air is supplied from the surface by two leather tubes fastened to the helmet. -
Captain James Cook
Between 1768 and 1779, Cook undertook 3 voyages. He made the first accurate maps of many regions in the southern oceans. His chronometer was the first timepiece capable of keeping accurate time while at sea. -
Edward Forbes
Edward Forbes declares that life cannot exist below 300 fathoms in the deep sea, thus starting a 20-year debate on the presence of the lifeless (azoic) zone. -
Jacques Cousteau
During the 1940s, Cousteau is credited with improving the aqua-lung design which gave birth to the open-circuit scuba technology used today. -
James Cameron
National Geographic explorer James Cameron dove 6.8 miles down in the Marina Trench. He was in a solo sub by the name of Deepsea Challenger.