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Eric the Red, a Norseman, completed the first ever transatlantic crossing in which he discovered the Baffin Island in the Arctic region of Canada.
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Although it had already been found by natives. Christopher Columbus is credited with rediscovering North America by sailing to the West Indies.
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Ferdinand Magellan embarked on a journey to sail around the world. Although he started the trip and is given credit for it, he was eaten by cannibals and the voyage was completed by Sebastian del Cano.
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Gerardus Mercator, a renowned cartographer, created a map projection of the world that was soon used and adapted to navigational charts for voyages.
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Robert Boyle, a 17th century Irish Chemist, Philospher, Physician, Inventor and Theological Writer, made observations regarding the salinity of the ocean and how it was correlated to pressure with depth and temperature. It was published in his report "Observations and Experiments on the Saltiness of the Sea".
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Benjamin Franklin, a reknowned scientist, published the first ever ocean chart of the Gulf Stream, which was consistently used to cross the North Atlantic Ocean.
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President Thomas Jefferson required coastal charting of all of the United States, as well as established the US Coast and Geodetic Survey.
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The Renaissance chart of California was created by Captain James Cook, a British explorer, navigator and cartographer.
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In 1857 James Alden, an Admiral in the United States Navy, discovered the first submarine valley (long deep indent in ocean's floor) in California.
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The HMS Lightning discovered sea life at approximated 14,400 feet below the surface. This was found using a dredging system. Up until this discovery, it was believed that nothing survived at such great depths.
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The U.S. Fish Commission was established with a modern laboratory at Woods Hole, Massachusetts. It still plays a central role in oceanographic research to this day.
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Following the US Fish Commission, the Marine Biological Laboratory was established in Woods Hole Massachusetts for intensive oceanographic research. Dr. Charles Otis Whitman served as its first director.
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The Scripps Institution of Biological Research was founded in La Jolla, California. It later became the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Much similar to in Woods Hole, Scripps is still used to this day.
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Reginal Fessendan used an electrical oscillator to explore the ocean by bouncing echoes off of sea floor and ice bergs. The oscillator was used as a communications device for years to come.
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The International Whaling Commission was organized to collect data on whale species and also to enforce regulations on the whaling industry.
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Large amounts of magnetic striping was found among the ocean floor by dragging a magnetometer across it.
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The nuclear submarine USS Nautilus, commanded by C.D.R. Andersen, reached the North Pole under the ice.
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The United Nations created the International Decade of Ocean Exploration in a massive effort to improve our scientific knowledge of every aspect of the oceans.
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NASA launched the TOPEX/Poseidon satellite in an attempt to monitor sea levels and to keep track of changes in the current patterns with regards to climate fluctuations.
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Renowned London physician, Alexander Marcet, made the discovery that the proportion of the chemical ingredients in seawater is a constant throughout all oceans.
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Leif Ericson, the son of Eric the Red, created a North American settlement called Vinland. It is now Newfoundland.
