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Around 1500 BC, the first Egyptian star maps were created. These maps were important for the Egyptians, especially since they lived in an area that had few landmarks. -
Around 1000 BC, the Babylonians created the MUL.APIN, a list of stars classified into constellations. -
Between the years of 624 BC and 545 BC, Thales of Miletus successfully predicted an eclipse, making him the first to ever do so. -
The Sumerian lunisolar calendar is estimated to have been invented in 499 BC, when it was realized that 19 solar years equals 235 moon cycles. -
In between the years 384 BC and 322 BC, Aristotle made his version of the geocentric model, proposing that the star and planets went in circular orbits around the Earth. -
Between the years 390 BC and 322 BC, Heracleides of Pontus proposed the idea that the Earth made a daily rotation, while still clinging to ideas of the geocentric model. -
Between the years of 310 BC and 230 BC, Aristarchus of Samos created the first known heliocentric model. Although nobody accepted it around his time, it inspired later astronomers. -
The first armillary sphere was invented in 225 BC. This device was used to track the movements of celestial bodies such as stars. It is thought to have been invented by Eratosthenes, still other sources do credit other people at different times. -
Between the years 276 BC and 192 BC, Eratosthenes used geometry to measure the circumference of the earth. This is one of the many reasons why he is called the Father of Geography. -
In the year of 117 AD, Zhang Heng created the first water powered armillary sphere. -
Between the years 100 AD and 170 AD, Claudius Ptolemy predicted the movements of the stars despite the fact of his use of an incorrect theory of the universe. -
Around the year 150 AD, Ptolemy published the Almagest, a book filled with his predictions of the stars. -
Abd al-Rahman al-Sufi publishes the Book of Fixed Stars, an expansion of Ptolemy's Almagest. -
In 1543, Copernicus published his treatise De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium, changing the world of astronomy. -
In the year of 1572, Tycho Brahe observed a supernova, proving that the celestial bodies do change, disproving the Aristotelian theory of unchanging heavens. -
In the year of 1609, Galileo created his telescope that could enlarge objects up to eight times their original size. -
In the year of 1609, Johannes Kepler published his findings on the orbit of Mars and his first two laws. -
In the year of 1610, Galileo discovered the moons orbiting Jupiter. -
In the year of 1618, Johannes Kepler discovered his third law, the law of harmonies. -
In the year of 1687, Issac Newton published his "Principia Mathematica Philosophiae Naturalis." This work contained many of his greatest discoveries, including his laws of gravity.