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Ocean Exploration Timeline

By Joseph Gonzales
  • 4000 BCE

    First Sailing Vessels

    First Sailing Vessels
    Ancient Egyptians created the first sailing vessels which were used to most likely only cross the Eastern Mediterranean and maybe near the mouth of the Nile river.
  • 500 BCE

    Treasure Diving Begins

    Treasure Diving Begins
    The Persian king Xerxes commissioned a diver and his daughter named Scyllias and Cyana during one of the wars between the Greeks and Persians to search for treasure.
  • 900

    Viking Expeditions Begin

    Viking Expeditions Begin
    Vikings started their journey's to Iceland, Greenland, and Newfoundland, being one of the first to use the North Star for determining latitude.
  • 1578

    First Plans for a Submarine

    First Plans for a Submarine
    William Bourne a English mathematician draws up a idea for the first underwater boat which requires leather-covered wooden frame that needs to be rowed from the inside, there is no evidence that this exact plan was ever built.

  • First Submarine

    First Submarine
    Cornelis Drebbel a Dutch physician builds a submarine out of wood that is reinforced with iron and covered in leather. It took 12 people to row it and the oars were slid through very tight leather sleeves which kept water out.

  • First Waterproof Suit

    First Waterproof Suit
    A French Navy guard named Chevalier de Beauve created a waterproof suit that included lead shoes and leather tubes from the surface supplying air.

  • First use of Scuba

    First use of Scuba
    The first underwater self-contained breathing apparatus also known as scuba was made by Englishman William H. James. In his design there's a helmet, a cast-iron air compressed belt put around the waist. This lasts up to a hour.

  • Proof of Deep Sea Life

    Proof of Deep Sea Life
    Louis F. de Pourtales conducted some dredging operations off Coast Survey Steamers Corwin and Bibb off the southern coast of Florida in which he discovered marine life below 1800 feet.

  • Titanic Sinks

    Titanic Sinks
    The massive White Star Liner Titanic strikes into a very large iceberg and sinks taking over 1500 passengers with it.

  • First Underwater Robot

    First Underwater Robot
    Designed by the Navy the Halibut can go miles down bearing lights and cameras and more gear to spy in enemies or to explore the sea floor for material.

  • Titanic Found

    Titanic Found
    With the help of a tiny robotic submarine called Jason, Dr. Robert Ballard found the wreck of the Titanic about 12,500 feet off the coast of Newfoundland Canada, it was in two separate pieces.

  • First Video of Giant Squid

    First Video of Giant Squid
    A film crew from a Japanese expedition gets a video of a giant squid live in its natural environment, most seen giant squids are only found dead on shore and the giant squid seen live was only 9 feet long when giant squid can get up to 60 feet long so it was quite small.