-
Leif Erikson was a viking who, with others, sailed to North America. These were the first Europeans to reach the new world.
-
Islam sets out a huge exploration in am effort to regain dominance at sea.
-
Prince Henry the Navigator sends expeditions down West Africa.
-
Christopher Colombus arrives at The Bahamas and the Carribean area, thinking he has found an unknown route to Asia.
-
China begins to explores other areas to trade its goods. However, they find that they are the most advanced civilization and isolate themselves.
-
Juan Ponce de Leon explores Florida and discovers the Florida Current, which became very helpful for ships going to Europe.
-
Discovered mass, weight and accelertion. Helped show how things move, and explained planets.
-
Discovered planetary movement, helped with navigation on the oceans.
-
Explained gravity which led to an understanding of tides.
-
Discovered longitude and the age of the oceans, helped with getting a deeper understanding of the ocean.
-
Created the marine chronometer which finds the longitude of a ship at sea. In a time when there was so much nescesary sailing, this device made travel safer.
-
Took first soundings, made observations of winds, currents and temperatures. Started to understand how the ocean processes work.
-
Ben Franklin charts the Gulf Stream. This chart helped sailors to find the fastest routes by showing where the trade winds are.
-
Established the first textbook on oceanography. Explained the sea's conditions and directions making sailer safer for everyone.
-
Studies the ocean using computer modules and chemical chacers. Models the oceans and the atmosphere.