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|
3200 B.C.
Pharaoh Snefru brings 40 ships from Byblus to Phoenicia.
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2750
First recorded expedition of exploration from
Egypt.
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|
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2500
Polynesians
begin their migration throughout the South Pacific
around this time.
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8th century
Polynesians colonize the Hawaiian Islands.
|
|
|
7th century
Phoenician merchant
seamen explore the Mediterranean Sea and Atlantic
coastline south to Africa and north to Europe.
Pharaoh Necho sends Phoenician ship on expedition
around Africa.
|
500
Hanno travels down
the northwestern coast of Africa. Expedition recorded
by Greeks. Himilco travels to England and establishes
tin trade.
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|
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510
Scylax explores India,
Arabia, and northern Afghanistan for the Persian
empire.
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4th century
Greeks add England and
India to their maps.
|
|
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275
Canal between the Nile River and the Red Sea is
reopened to shipping.
|
1st century A.D.
Chinese invent first compass.
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|
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120
Ptolemy (Claudius Ptolemaeus
A.D. 90 - 168) of Egypt, a mathematician and astronomer
who works in Alexandria, builds the foundations
of cartography. He invents a number of projections
whereby an area on the curved surface of the Earth
can be represented on a flat surface. His world
system places the Earth at the center of the universe
with celestial bodies circling around it.
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| 10th century
Constantinople (Byzantium) recognized as the first
city of the world to be a commercial and cultural
center.
|
|
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860
Iceland discovered.
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982
Greenland discovered by Eric
the Red.
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|
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1002
Leifr Eiriksson
discovers North America.
|
1050
Astrolabes
arrive in Europe from the East.
|
|
|
1066
Normans (Vikings)
conquer England.
|
1081
A trade treaty is established between Venice and
the Byzantine Empire.
|
|
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1151
First use of explosives in war, by China.
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1191
First exports of tea from China.
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|
|
13th century
Nomadic Mongols capture most of
Eurasia, Korea, and Hungary.
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1225
Cotton manufacturing established in Spain.
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|
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1233
First coal is mined in Newcastle, England.
|
1240
The Hanseatic League is formed in the Baltic region
and becomes the North terminus for Far East trade.
|
|
|
1271-95
Marco Polo journeys to China
establishing the overland trade route. He leaves
China in 1292 and three years later arrives home.
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|
|
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1328
Invention of sawmill spurs shipbuilding.
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1355
Ibn Buttuta returns home
from his travels.
|
|
|
1405
Admiral Cheng Ho begins
his voyages for Emperor Chu Ti. The Treasure Fleet
of the Dragon Throne rules the South Pacific and
Indian Ocean until 1433.
|
1406
Ptolemy's geography is introduced in Europe.
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|
|
1432
Portuguese navigators
discover the Azores.
|
1441
Portuguese navigators cruise West Africa and reestablish
slave trade.
|
|
|
ca. 1450
Prince
Henry the Navigator establishes a Naval
observatory for the teaching of navigation, astronomy,
and cartography.
|
1450
Invention of the printing press spurs wide distribution
of navigation tables and ship plans. Ptolemy's
geography is published and widely accepted.
|
|
|
1453
Turks overrun Constantinople, shutting off the
overland trade route.
|
1470-84
Portuguese
explorations discover Africa's Gold Coast and
the Congo River.
|
|
|
1487
Bartholomeu Dias
barely touches the Cape of Good Hope.
|
|
|
|
1494
The Treaty of Tordesillas
divides the world between Spain and Portugal for
the alleged purpose of spreading Christianity.
|
1497-98
Vasco da Gama rounds the
Cape of Good Hope and reaches India.
|
|
|
1497
John Cabot sites "new found
land" while searching for Northwest Passage.
|
1504
Venice proposes a Suez Canal to the Sultan of
Turkey.
|
|
|
1506
Christopher Columbus
dies.
|
1511
Portugal defeats the Arabs in a major naval battle
at the Straits of Sunda, taking control of the
Spice Islands as the center of Far East trade.
(The Straits lie between Java and Borneo, now
Indonesia.)
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|
|
1512
England begins construction of double-deck warships.
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1519
Magellan begins his
journey to circumnavigate the world with five
ships and 270 men.
|
|
|
1521
April 27, Magellan killed by natives in the Philippines.
|
1522
September 6, eighteen of Magellan's crew and one
ship return.
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|
|
1534
Jacques Cartier enters
the St. Lawrence River. Land in Great Lakes claimed
for France.
|
|
|
|
1609
Henry Hudson explores
present-day New York and Hudson River and claims
them for the Dutch.
|
1768
James Cook begins the first
of his Pacific explorations.
|
|
|
1770
Cook documents location of Australia.
|
1778
Cook explores Hawaiian Islands. He fails to locate
Northwest Passage from Alaskan side.
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|
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1779
Cook killed in Hawaii.
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