Odyssey Marine Exploration (2009) discovered the wreck of the HMS Victory
Yves Rossy (May 14, 2008) flew his jet engine-powered wing in the first public demonstration before the world's press
the first nonstop flight around the world by balloon (March 21, 1999)
David Hempleman-Adams (1998) became the first person to complete the
Explorers Grand Slam in when he conquered the North and South Poles
and scaled the highest mountain in each of seven continents
the Degree Confluence Project (1996)
the Everest Disaster (May 11, 1996)
Outside (1978)
Reinhold Messner and Peter Habeler (1978) ascended Mount Everest without supplementary oxygen
Mountain Equipment Co-op (1971)
Therm-a-Rest (early 1970s)
Apollo 11 was the first manned mission to land on the Moon (July 20, 1969)
the Sunday Times Golden Globe Race (1968-1969)
NOLS (1965)
Jacques Piccard and Don Walsh (January 23, 1960) reached the ocean floor in the Challenger
Deep with his bathyscaphe Trieste. The depth of the descent was measured at 10,916 meters
Project Excelsior (1959-1960)
Vivian Fuchs (March 2, 1958) completed the first overland crossing of Antarctica
the International Geophysical Year (1957-1958)
the Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition (1955-1958)
Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay (May 29, 1953) reached the summit of Mount Everest
Alain Bombard (1952) sailed in an inflatable boat with almost no provisions across the Atlantic
the Kon-Tiki Expedition (1947)
Space exploration (1946)
scuba devices (1943)
Outward Bound (1941)
REI (1938)
the Eiger-Nordwand was first climbed (July 24, 1938) by Anderl Heckmair, Ludwig Vörg, Heinrich Harrer and Fritz Kasparek
the Second Polar Year (1932-1933)
William Beebe and Otis Barton (1930) descended 183m off Nonsuch
Island in Bermuda, where in 1934 they made a record descent of 923m
Alexandra David-Néel (1924) visited the to foreigners forbidden city of Tibet
George Mallory and Andrew Irvine (June 8, 1924) never returned to high camp
after their attempt to climb to the top of Mount Everest via the North Col route
oxygen masks for high altitude climbing
Alcock and Brown made the first non-stop flight across the Atlantic Ocean (June 1919)
the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition (1914-1916)
the Karluk Expedition (1913-1914)
Roald Amundsen (December 14, 1911) reached the South Pole
the Terra Nova Expedition (1910-1913)
Robert Peary, Matthew Henson, Oatah, Egingwah, Seegloo, and Ookeah (April 6, 1909)
reached the geographic North Pole
the Nimrod Expedition (1908-1909)
the Scouting movement (1907)
Roald Amundsen (1906) traversed the Northwest Passage between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans
the Hubbard Medal (1906)
the Explorers Club (1904) is an international multidisciplinary professional society formed by the survivors of
Frederick Cook's 1894 Arctic expedition. The Society is dedicated to the advancement of field research and
the ideal that it is vital to preserve the instinct to explore
the Discovery Expedition (1901-1904)
Fridtjof Nansen crossed the Arctic ocean (1893-1896) and almost reached
the North Pole by allowing the Fram to drift north through the sea ice
Fridtjof Nansen succeeded in crossing the Greenland icefield on skis (1888) from east to west
with Otto Sverdrup, Olaf Dietrichson, Kristian Kristiansen Trana, Samuel Balto and Ole Nielsen Ravna
the National Geographic Magazine (1888)
Safaris (late 19th century)
portable stoves (late 1880s)
the First International Polar Year (1882-1883)
Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld (1878) circumnavigated Eurasia,
being the first to make the whole length of the Northeast passage
the Challenger expedition (1870-1872)
Henry Morton Stanley (1869) was sent to find the Scottish missionary and explorer David Livingstone in Africa
the Matterhorn (1865) was scaled by Edward Whymper and his party
John Hanning Speke found the Nile flowing out of Lake Victoria (1862)
Burton and Speke's exploration of the lakes of central Africa (1856-1860)
David Livingstone's journey across Africa (1852-1856)
the Franklin Expedition (1845-1848)
the United States Exploring Expedition (1838-1842)
the Voyage of the Beagle (1831-1836)
the Royal Geographical Society (1830)
Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen (January 28, 1820) discovered the Antarctic mainland
Mountain men (1810-1840s) were trappers and explorers that roamed the Rocky Mountains
the Lewis and Clark expedition (1804-1806)
the summit of the Großglockner (July 28, 1800) was reached by Martin and Sepp Klotz,
along with two other carpenters, and even a clergyman from Dölsach named Horasch
Alexander von Humboldt's Latin American expedition (1799-1804)
on the recommendation of Scottish physician James Lind (1795) sailors in the British navy are given lime juice to prevent scurvy
David Thompson (1792-1812) explored and mapped the country west of Hudson Bay and Lake Superior,
across the Rocky Mountains to the headwaters of the Columbia River and down the Columbia to the Pacific Ocean
Mutiny on the Bounty (1789)
Captain Arthur Phillip (January 26, 1788) founded the first permanent European settlement in Australia
the first recorded ascent of Mont Blanc was (August 8, 1786) by Jacques Balmat and the
doctor Michel Paccard. This climb, initiated by Horace-Bénédict de Saussure, who gave a
reward for the successful ascent, traditionally marks the start of modern mountaineering
James Cook (April 29, 1770) landed at Botany Bay on his first circumnavigation
Samuel Wallis (June 18, 1767) sighted Tahiti and is considered the first European visitor to the island
Louis-Antoine de Bougainville (1766-1769) undertook the first French circumnavigation
on the Second Kamchatka expedition (1733-1741) Vitus Bering discovered the Aleutian Islands
Pierre Gaultier de Varennes, sieur de La Vérendrye's explorations to find a route to the Western Sea (1731-1744)
the sextant (1730)
the chronometer (1730)
Jakob Roggeveen encountered Easter Island (April 5, 1722) on Easter Sunday
Alexander Selkirk (1704-17009) spent a solitary residence on Juan Fernández
René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle (1679, 1682) navigated the
Great Lakes by sailing ship and canoed down the Mississippi River
Louis Hennepin (1677) discovered the Niagara Falls
Rupert's Land (1670) was originally owned by the Hudson's Bay Company
the French East India Company (1664)
Semyon Dezhnev (1648) discovered the Anian Strait between Asia and Alaska
Abel Tasman reached New Zealand (1642)
Peter Minuit (May 24, 1626) purchased the island of Manhattan from the Canarse Native Americans with trinkets valued at about $24
New England (1620-1788)
Jacob Le Maire and Willem Schouten (1616) rounded Cape Horn after discovering the Le Maire Strait
William Baffin (1616) discovered Lancaster Sound at the end of the Bay named after him
New Netherland (1614-1674)
Henry Hudson (1610) explored the bay that now bears his name on his ship the Discovery,
after having sailed up Hudson river a year earlier on an expedition for the Dutch East India Company
Samuel de Champlain (July 3, 1608) landed at the "point of Quebec" and set about fortifying
the area, establishing the first permanent European settlement in what today is Canada
Captain John Smith (May 13, 1607) established the first permanent English
settlement in North America the Virginia Colony at Jamestown
Willem Janszoon made the first recorded European landfall on the Australian continent (1606) after
being sent from Bantam in the Dutch East Indies to search for New Guinea. He made a landfall at
the western shore of Cape York in Queensland in 1606, believing it still to be a part of New Guinea
the Dutch East India Company (March 20, 1602)
the British East India Company (1600)
Cornelis de Houtman (1595) discovered a new sea route from
Europe to Indonesia and managed to begin the Dutch spice trade
John Davis's expeditions in search for a Northwest Passage (1585-1587)
the first English colony (1583) was established at St. John's in Newfoundland by
Sir Humphrey
Gilbert, soon after followed the foundation of colonies on Roanoke Island,
Virginia in 1587, Popham
in 1607, Cuper's Cove in 1610, Plymouth in 1620, and the Massachusetts Bay
Colony in 1632
Miguel López de Legazpi (1565) established the first spanish colony in the Philippine Islands
Francis Xavier reached Japan (July 27, 1549) but it was not until August 15 that he went ashore at Kagoshima
Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo (1542-1543) was the first European explorer
to navigate the coast of present day California in the United States
Francisco Orellana and Gonzalo Pizarro (1541) expedition to find El Dorado
the legend of El Dorado (1537)
Jacques Cartier sailed up the the St. Lawrence (1535-1536) on his second voyage to the new world
Fray Tomás de Berlanga (March 10, 1535) the fourth Bishop of Panama, sailed to Peru
to settle a dispute between Francisco Pizarro and his lieutenants. De Berlanga's vessel
drifted off course when the winds diminished, and his party reached the Galápagos Islands
Diego de Almagro took possession of the Kingdom of Chile for Spain (1535)
New Spain (1535-1821)
New France (1534-1763) was the area colonized by France in North America during a period extending from the
exploration of the Saint Lawrence River, by Jacques Cartier in 1534, to the cession of New France to Spain and
to the Kingdom of Great Britain under the Treaty of Paris ending the French and Indian war/ Seven Years' war
Francisco Pizarro conquered the Inca Empire for Spain (1532)
Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca's exploration of southern North America (1528-1537)
Giovanni da Verrazano (1524) became the first European to explore the Atlantic coast of
North America between South Carolina and Newfoundland when he was sent by King
Francis I of France to explore the region for a route to the Pacific Ocean
Juan Sebastián Elcano (1522) circumnavigated the globe
Hernan Cortes conquered the Mexica/Aztec Empire for Spain (1521)
Ferdinand Magellan (October 21, 1520) reached Cape Virgenes and discovered the strait now named after him
Francisco Hernández de Córdoba (1517) discovered Yucatán
Vasco Núñez de Balboa (September 25, 1513) reached the summit of the mountain range along the
Chucunaque River on the Isthmus of Panama and became the first European to see the Pacific
Juan Ponce de León (April 2, 1513) set foot in Florida
Martin Waldseemüller (1507) produced a world map on which he named
the new continent "America" after Vespucci's first name, Amerigo
Juan de Bermudez (1503) discovered the Bermuda islands
Amerigo Vespucci (1502) wrote in a letter to de' Medici that the land masses he had explored with Alonso de Ojeda
and Gonçalo Coelho were much larger than anticipated and unlike the Asia described by earlier Europeans and,
therefore, must be a New World. In 1499 he had discovered the mouth of the Amazon and the Orinoco River,
while in 1502 he sailed as far south as Patagonia
João da Nova discovered Ascension Island (1501) and Saint Helena (1502)
Diego Dias (1500) became the first European to set foot on Madagascar when his ship, bound for India, blew off course
Pedro Álvares Cabral (April 23, 1500) landed on the coast of Brazil
Alonso de Ojeda (1499-1500) journeyed to the New World with three vessels and accompanied by
the cosmographer Juan de la Cosa and Amerigo Vespucci. In a little over three weeks he sighted the
mainland near the mouth of the Orinoco River, and after landing on Trinidad and at other places,
discovered a harbour which he called Venezuela (little Venice), from its resemblance to the bay of Venice
João Fernandes Lavrador (1498) charted the coasts of Southwestern Greenland and of adjacent Northeastern North America around
Vasco da Gama landed at Calicut (May 20, 1498)
John Cabot (June 24, 1497) landed on the coast of Newfoundland
the Treaty of Tordesillas (June 7, 1494) divided the world outside of Europe in an
exclusive duopoly between the Spanish and the Portuguese along a north-south
meridian 370 leagues (1770 km; 1100 miles) west of the Cape Verde Islands
on his second voyage (1493) Christopher Columbus founded the
first Spanish colony in the New World on the island of Hispaniola
the Egg of Columbus (1493)
the New World (1493)
Christopher Columbus landed on the Bahamas (October 12, 1492)
Bartolomeu Dias turned the Cape of Good Hope (1488)
Bernhard von Breidenbach's account of his journey to Jerusalem (1486)
Diogo Cão reached the mouth of the Congo River (1482) and sailed
down the African west coast as far south as what today is Angola
Toscanelli s world map (1474)
Didrik Pining is said to have landed on Newfoundland and Labrador (1473) together with Hans
Pothorst, also from Hildesheim, and the Portuguese explorers João Vaz Corte-Real and Álvaro Martins
João Vaz Corte-Real (1470) discovered Terra Nova do Bacalhau on his explorations in the Northwest Atlantic
Alvise Cadamosto (1456) became the first European to reach the Cape Verde Islands
Nuno Tristão's exploration (1441-1446) of the West African coast
Gil Eanes (1434) discovered a passable route around Cape Bojador
Diogo de Silves (1427) discovered the Azores
Niccolò Da Conti's travels to India and South-East Asia (1419-1444)
João Gonçalves Zarco (1419, 1420) discovered the Madeira Islands
the Portuguese Armada (August 21, 1415) managed to conquer the North African trade centre Ceuta, thus
founding the Portuguese Empire: the earliest and longest lived of the western european colonial empires (1415-1999)
Ibn Battuta's journeys across Africa and Asia (1325-1352)
the voyages of Niccolò, Maffeo and Marco Polo (late 13th century)
European missions to the Mongols (1245, 1246, 1248, 1253) led by Giovanni
da Pian del Carpine, Ascelin, André de Longjumeau and William of Rubruck
Leif Ericson (1000) sailed to and landed in North America, naming what is known
today as Baffin Island, Helluland, what is known today as Labrador, Markland and
what is known today as Newfoundland, Vínland
Bjarni Herjólfsson (986) sighted the mainland of North America when he was blown off course by a storm on his voyage to Greenland.
Saint Brendan (530) sailed to the Hebrides, the Canary Islands, the Azores and Iceland
Zhang Qian (2nd century bc) opened up Chinese trade and helped
begin the Silk Road on his travels to the steppes of Central Asia
Pytheas of Massilia (325 bc) circumnavigated Great Britain
Hanno the Navigator (570 bc) explored the Atlantic coast of Africa