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This is atimeline of events inmaritime history.

• 1.5 – 1,000,000BP: stone tool evidence at theCalio site in Sulawesi shows thathominins made an early deep sea crossing at least 1.04 million years ago.^[1]

• About 45,000 BC: first humans arrive in the islands ofSoutheast Asia,Papua New Guinea, andAustralia via the now sunkenSundaland andSahulland bridges. These migrations still required crossing expanses of water. They had no advanced watercraft technology, so it is presumed they crossed theWallace Line via primitive floats or rafts.^{[2][3]: 86, 131}
• About 6,000 BC: Earliest evidence ofdugout canoes.^[4]
• 5th millennium BC: Earliest known depiction of a shallow-watersailing boat made from bundledreeds from theUbaid period ofMesopotamia in thePersian Gulf.^[5]
• About 3000 BC, theAustronesian people migrate fromTaiwan to thePhilippines, starting the sea-borneAustronesian expansion, which at its furthest extent reachedIsland Southeast Asia,Micronesia,Polynesia,Island Melanesia, andMadagascar.^[6][7]
• About 2,000 BC,Hannu dispatches a fleet along theRed Sea coast to theLand of Punt
• 1575–1520 BCDover Bronze Age Boat, oldest known recovered plank vessel
• About 1500 BC:

• Austronesians develop thefore-and-aftcrab claw sail from an earlier V-shapedsquare sail. They also inventoutrigger boat technology from earliercatamaran technology.^[8][9]
• Austronesians colonize theMarianas Islands from the island ofLuzon in thePhilippines. The first long-distance ocean crossing in human history and the first humans to reachRemote Oceania.^[6][10]
• Austronesians inIsland Southeast Asia establish theAustronesian maritime trade network withSouthern India andSri Lanka, resulting in an exchange ofmaterial culture, including boat and sailing technologies and crops likesugarcane,coconuts, and various spices. It is the precursor to both theIndian Ocean spice trade andmaritime silk road.^[11][12][13]

• About 1300 to 1200 BC: TheAustronesianLapita people, the direct ancestors of thePolynesians, reach and colonize theSchouten Islands, theBismarck Archipelago, and theSolomon Islands. Introducing outrigger canoe technology to thePapuan people.^[6][10]

• About 1175 BC:Battle of the Delta, one of the first recorded naval battles, during Ancient Egypt's war against theSea Peoples.
• 1194–1174 BC: Supposed timespan for the events ofHomer'sIliad andOdyssey.
• About 1000 BC:

• Austronesians fromIsland Southeast Asia develop thetanja sail andjunk sail.^{[11][12]: 102–103 [13]: 191–192}
• Austronesians from either thePhilippines orEastern Indonesia colonizePalau andYap.^[6][10]

• About 900 BC: TheAustronesianLapita people reachSamoa andTonga, which remained the furthest extent of theAustronesian expansion intoPolynesia for the next 1,600 years.^[6][10]
• Around 600 BC: According toHerodotus,Necho II sendsPhoenician expedition to circumnavigateAfrica.
• 6th century BC:Canal of the Pharaohs is built in Egypt.
• 542 BC: First written record of atrireme.
• 5th century BC:Hanno the Navigator explores the coast ofWest Africa.
• 480 BC:Battle of Salamis, arguably the largest naval battle in ancient times.
• 256 BC:Battle of Cape Ecnomus, one ofAncient Rome's first major naval victories overCarthage during theFirst Punic War
• 247 BC:Lighthouse of Alexandria completed.
• 214 BC:Lingqu Canal built.
• 31 BC:Battle of Actium decides theFinal War of the Roman Republic.
• 50 AD:Austronesians reach and colonizeMadagascar fromBorneo, crossing the entirety of theIndian Ocean. There is evidence of multiple back-and-forth crossings.^[14][15]
• 150 AD: LargeAustronesian ships calledK'un-lun po or Kolandiaphonta is noted to be trading withChina and India fromIsland Southeast Asia, linking China to the trade routes inSouth Asia.^[16]

• 654:Battle of the Masts between theByzantine Empire and theRashidun Caliphate
• About 700:

• Austronesians (Javanese andMalay people) reachGhana in West Africa.^[16]
• Austronesians (Polynesians) fromSamoa andTonga start the second expansion phase intoPolynesia, by rapidly colonizing theCook Islands, theSociety Islands, theTuamotus, and theMarquesas.^[6][10]

• 793: The raid ofLindisfarne, first recordedViking raid
• 851: JavaneseSailendras stage a surprise attack on the Khmers by approaching the capital from the river, after a sea crossing from Java.^[17]: 35
• About 900:Austronesians (Polynesians) colonizeHawaii^[6][10]
• 916: A polity calledZabag (presumably Java) invaded theKhmer empire, using 1000 "medium-sized" vessels, which results in victory. The head of Khmer's king was then brought to Zabag.^{[18]: 137–138 [19]: 269, 302}
• 931: Black labor was imported to Javanese Mataram kingdom fromJenggi (Zanzibar), Pujut (Australia), and Bondan (Papua).^{[20][21]: 73}
• 945: Malay people fromSrivijaya or Javanese people fromMataram attack the coast ofTanganyika andMozambique with 1000 boats in an attempt to take the citadel of Qanbaloh.^{[22]: 27 [15]: 110 [21]: 39}
• 984:Pound locks used in China; SeeTechnology of the Song dynasty
• 986:Bjarni Herjolfsson crossed the Labrador Sea and saw North America.
• About 1000:

• Leif Ericson crossed the Labrador Sea to reachNorth America.
• Austronesians (Polynesians) colonizeEaster Island and possibly made contact withSouth America.^{[6][10][23][24]}

• 1025:Chola invasion of Srivijaya
• 1088:Dream Pool Essays byShen Kuo, first description of a magneticcompass.
• 12th century: Chinese people adopted the junk rig from Southeast AsianAustronesian traders visiting their southern coast.^[25]
• 1159:Lübeck is rebuilt, and theHanseatic League is founded.
• About 1190:Alexander Neckam writes the first European description of a magnetic compass.
• 13th century:Portolan charts are introduced in the Mediterranean.
• About 1280:Austronesians (Polynesians) colonizeNew Zealand, the last major landmass to be populated.^[6][10]
• 1274: FirstMongol invasion of Japan.
• 1325–1354:Ibn Battuta visits much of Africa and Asia
• 1350: Majapahit invadesSamudera Pasai, with 400 jong.^[26]
• 1380: The nearly completedBremen cog was wrecked, leaving an example of a ship type that was a mainstay of trade in theHanseatic League
• 1398:Majapahit invadesKingdom of Singapura, with 300jong and no less than 200,000 men.^[27]
• 1405:Zheng He'sexpeditions begins.

• 1488:Bartolomeu Dias reaches theCape of Good Hope.
• 1492:Christopher Columbus' first voyage, first recorded non-Arctic crossing of the Atlantic
• 1497:John Cabot reaches North American mainland, as first European since the Vikings.
• 1498
  • Vasco da Gama completes theCape Route from Europe to India.
  • Columbus reaches continental South America.
• 1513:Jorge Álvares completes the first voyage from Europe to China.
• 1522:Ferdinand Magellan's last ship arrives in Europe, first recordedcircumnavigation, and crossing of thePacific Ocean
• 1571:Battle of Lepanto, last major naval battle fought entirely between galleys.
• 1580: Francis Drake returns to England and completes the1st circumnavigation by an Englishman.
• 1588: TheSpanish Armada is destroyed.
• 1589: TheEnglish Armada is defeated
• 1597: The3rd Spanish Armada in revenge for the Englishattack on Cadiz fails, shifting naval superiority to England.
• 1602: TheDutch East India Company is founded.
• 1606:Willem Janszoon becomes the first European to reach Australia.
• 1620:Cornelis Drebbel constructs the firstsubmarine.
• 1628: TheVasa sinks inStockholm harbour on its maiden voyage.
• 1716: TheOld Dock was built the first commercialWet dock in thePort of Liverpool.
• 1736:John Harrison tests the first successfulmarine chronometer.
• 1757: Firstsextant constructed
• 1771:James Cook completes the first circumnavigation without casualties toscurvy.
• 1790:Battle of Svensksund, the last major battle with participation of galleys.

• 1783:Claude de Jouffroy constructs the first recordedsteamboat.
• 1790:Canal Mania begins in Great Britain.
• 1805: Thebattle of Trafalgar marks the rise of theRoyal Navy to a century of world domination.
• 1807:North River Steamboat, the first commercially successful steamboat, is launched.
• 1819:SS Savannah under Capt. Moses Rogers makes first transatlantic crossing using (auxiliary) steam power.
• 1820:Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen discovers mainlandAntarctica; the only recorded discovery of an uninhabited continent.
• 1839 - An early electric boat was developed by the German inventorMoritz von Jacobi in 1839 inSt Petersburg,Russia. It was a 24-foot (7.3 m) boat which carried 14 passengers at 3 miles per hour (4.8 km/h). It was successfully demonstrated to EmperorNicholas I of Russia on theNeva River.
• 1845:SS Great Britain becomes first iron steamer to cross the Atlantic.
• 1853: American commodoreMatthew C. Perry arrives inTokyo Bay, enforcing theConvention of Kanagawa in 1854.
• 1856:Paris Declaration Respecting Maritime Law outlaws privateering.
• 1859: The firstironclad warship,theGloire, is launched.
• 1861:USS Ice Boat (1861), the first purpose-builticebreaker, is launched.
• 1862: TheBattle of Hampton Roads becomes the first battle between ironclads.
• 1864:Ictineo II, the first submarine powered by aninternal-combustion engine.
• 1865:CSS Shenandoah: The vessel was surrendered inLiverpool marking the last official surrender of theAmerican Civil War.
• 1866:SS Agamemnon, the first commercially successful long distance steamer sails from Liverpool to China with only one stop for coal.
• 1866:SS Great Eastern: The world's largest ship that laid the first lastingTransatlantic telegraph cable.
• 1869: TheSuez Canal opens.
• 1871:Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld braves theNortheast Passage on theVega
• 1880: The American passenger steamshipColumbia becomes the first outside usage ofThomas Edison'sincandescent light bulb.^{[28][29][30][31]}
• 1881:SS Aberdeen, the first ship successfully powered by atriple expansion steam engine, making steam competitive with sail on all routes
• 1893: TheCorinth Canal opens.
• 1894: TheTurbinia, the world's first turbine-powered ship, is launched.
• 1895: TheKiel Canal opens.

• 1903: TheVandal, the world's firstdiesel-electric ship, is launched.
• 1906
  • Roald Amundsen conquers theNorthwest Passage on theGjøa.
  • HMS Dreadnought launched, commencing the era ofbattleships.
• 1912:TheTitanic sinks in the North Atlantic. The wreck could not be discovered until 1985.
• 1914: ThePanama Canal opens.
• 1916:Battle of Jutland, claimed to be the largest naval battle in history, counting tonnage of engaged ships.
• 1918:HMS Furious (47) becomes the firstaircraft carrier used in warfare.
• 1937:USS Leary (DD-158) becomes the first American vessel to be equipped withradar.
• 1939:Battle of the Atlantic starts the longest continuous military campaign ofWorld War II headquarters command based inLiverpool.
• 1941: Theattack on Pearl Harbor starts thePacific War.
• 1942: Thebattle of Midway marks the demise of battleships and the domination of aircraft carriers.
• 1944:
  • Normandy landings, the largest amphibious invasion in history.
  • Battle of the Philippine Sea, the largest carrier-to-carrier battle in history, involving a total of 24aircraft carriers
  • Battle of Leyte Gulf, the largest naval battle inWorld War II and the largest naval battle in history in terms of ship displacement, area, and the number of (confirmed) personnel involved
• 1951: The first purpose-builtcontainer ships enter operation.
• 1955:USS Nautilus (SSN-571), the world's firstnuclear-powered vessel, is launched.
• 1957: Aircraft supplants shipping as the leading mode of passengerTransatlantic travel
• 1959:
  • TheUSS Skate (SSN-578) surfaces at theNorth Pole.
  • TheSR.N1, the first practicalhovercraft, is launched.
• 1960: TheTrieste descends to theChallenger Deep.
• 1962: TheCuban Missile Crisis; a major naval confrontation between the United States and theSoviet Union.
• 1977: Russian icebreakerArktika makes the first surface voyage to the North Pole.
• 1982:Falklands War, one of the largest naval campaigns since World War II.
• 1985: TheSea Shadow (IX-529), an earlystealth ship, is launched.
• 1987: TheMV Doña Paz is lost, claiming 4,375 lives, the worst peacetime maritime disaster in history.
• 1994:
  • TheGlobal Positioning System becomes operational.
  • MS Estonia is lost in the Baltic Sea.
• 2005:Piracy off the coast of Somalia becomes an international concern.
• 2007:Arktika 2007 becomes the first crewed expedition to the North Pole seabed.
• 2012:
  • Costa Concordia disaster.
  • James Cameron reaches theChallenger Deep solo with theDeepsea Challenger.
• 2013:MS Nordic Orion becomes the first freighter to complete the Northwest Passage.

• Age of Discovery
• History of navigation
• List of circumnavigations
• List of explorers
• List of naval battles
• Timeline for aircraft carrier service
• Timeline of European exploration
• Timeline of maritime migration and exploration
• Timeline of transportation technology

• Triastanti, Ani.Perdagangan Internasional pada Masa Jawa Kuno; Tinjauan Terhadap Data Tertulis Abad X-XII. Essay of Faculty of Cultural Studies. Gadjah Mada University of Yogyakarta, 2007.

• Maritime timelines
• Military timelines
• Transport timelines

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