Timeline of Geographic History

[Perhar]

2300 BCE The first city map was created in stone for Lagash, Mesopotamia
450 Herodotus compiled a map of the known world
334 Alexander the Great began conquring the Middle East and India
240 Eratosthenes calculated the circumference of the earth
45 Julian calendar established
20 CE Strabo published his 17 volume Geography
77 Pliny the Elder wrote his encyclopedia of geography
79 Mount Vesuvius erupted and Pompeii was destroyed
150 Ptolmey published his Geography and included a map of the world with places labeled with a coordinate grid system
271 The magnetic compass was in use in China
326 Helena, Constantine's mother, traveled to the Holy Land to identify places sacred to Christianity
476 The Fall of Rome
632 Muhammed died and Muslim expansion began
982 Eric the Red reached Baffin Island in North America
995 Leif Ericson established a colony in Newfoundland
1095 The first Crusade began
1154 Edrisi's book of world geography was published
1170 The letter from Prester John, asking for help against infidels, "arrived" at the Pope
1271 Marco Polo headed for China
1325 Tenochtitlan founded by Aztecs
1347 Bubonic Plague, "Black Death," in Europe, 30 million die
1377 ibn-Khaldun completed his history of the world
1405-1433 China ruled the seas through the seven voyages of Cheng Ho's Treasure Fleet
1410 A translation of Ptolmey's Geography was published in Europe
1418 Prince Henry the Navigator established the Sagres research institute
1455 Gutenberg invents the printing press
1492 Columbus reached the West Indies
1494 Treaty of Tordesillas established Spanish and Portuguese control over new discoveries
1500 Cabral discovered Brazil
1505 Portugal established trading posts in East Africa
1517 Martin Luther begins Protestant Reformation
1519 Magellan began his circumnavigation of the earth
1543 Copernicus published his On the Revolution of Heavenly Spheres
1569 Mercator created his map
1582 Gregorian calendar established
1602 The Dutch East India company was founded
1620 Pilgrims landed in New England
1675 The Royal Observatory was established at Greenwich, England
1714 The British government offered a 20,000 pound reward to the person who could accurately determine longitude at sea
1761 John Harrison's chronometer was perfected, allowing determination of longitude at sea
1768-1779 James Cook explored the earth
1769 Alexander von Humboldt was born
1776 British colonies in America declare independence
1779 Carl Ritter was born
1788 Hutton's theory of uniformitarianism was introduced ("no vestige of a beginning, no prospect of an end")
1789 French Revolution
1798 Thomas Malthus' first essay on population
1803 Thomas Jefferson completed the Louisiana Purchase
1804-1806 Lewis and Clark explored the western United States
1817 The first volume of Ritter's Die Erkunde was published
1821 Simon Bolivar gains independence for Venezuela, sparking widespread independence in South America
1825 Erie Canal complete
1830 The Royal Geographical Society was formed in London
Lyell published his Principles of Geology
1831 Charles Darwin began his travels
1840 The Geological Survey of Canada was established
1845 The first volume of von Humboldt's Kosmos was published
1848 Gold was discovered in Calfornia
1850 The first use of the camera for mapping takes place in France
William Morris Davis was born
1851 The American Geographical Society was formed
1855 Maury's The Physical Geography of the Sea was published
1859 von Humboldt and Ritter died
1864 George Perkins Marsh's Man and Nature was published
1867 The USGS was established
1869 Japan opened to western influence and trade
Transcontinental railroad established in United States
The Suez Canal opened
1874 The first Department of Geography was established in Germany (the Prussian government established a Chair of Geography in every Prussian university)
1884-1885 Berlin Conference divides Africa among European colonial powers
1888 The National Geographic Society was formed
1895 The first Times Atlas of the World was published
1903 University of Chicago established first American Department of Geography
1904 The Association of American Geographers was established
Mackinder proposed his Heartland Theory
1909 Peary reached the North Pole
1911 Amundsen reached the South Pole
1912 Wegner proposed his theory of continental drift
1913 Greenwich is accepted as 0° longitude
1914-1918 World War I
1914 The Panama Canal opened
1922 The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) was established
1923-1957 Carl O. Sauer taught at the University of California, Berkeley
1931 Commonwealth of Nations founded
1933 Walter Christaller introduces Central Place Theory
1934 William Morris Davis died
1939-1945 World War II
1945 The United Nations was founded
1946 First Levittown
1949 Peoples Republic of China formed
1953 Hillary and Norgay reached the top of Mount Everest
1957-1958 The International Geophysical Year
1961 Antarctic Treaty established
1969 Humans land on the moon
1970 The first Earth Day
1979 China established One-Child rule
1984 Hole in Ozone Layer was first observed
1989 Berlin Wall tumbled down
1990 Reunification of Germany
1991 The end of the USSR and Yugoslavia
Persian Gulf War
1992 The end of the Cold War
1994 Channel Tunnel (Chunnel) opened, linking Great Britain to Europe
1997 Geography at About.com site established (formerly called Geography at The Mining Company)
Hong Kong returned to China
1999 Euro established as currency in 11 European countries
Macau returned to China
2000 U.S. President Clinton orders GPS Selective Availability turned off, instantly making GPS more accurate
2001 New millenium began
Southern Ocean established by the International Hydrographic Organization
2002 East Timor gains independence

Source Timeline of Geographic History