istoryworld
Events relating to exploration
Naval officer George Vancouver sails from Britain on the voyage which will bring him to the northwest coast of America
Alexander Mackenzie reaches the Pacific coast of Canada, becoming the first known person to cross the north American continent
Mungo Park sets off on his first expedition to explore the Niger on behalf of the African Association
British explorer George Bass sails round Tasmania in an open whaleboat, discovering the strait which now bears his name
Meriwether Lewis and William Clark set off from St Louis to explore up the Missouri river and west to the coast
Lewis and Clark make their way through the Rockies and reach the Pacific
Lewis and Clark get back to St Louis with a wealth of information about the unopened west of the continent
Richard Lander and his brother John explore the lower reaches of the Niger, proving that the great river is navigable
HMS Beagle sails from Plymouth to survey the coasts of the southern hemisphere, with Charles Darwin as the expedition's naturalist
The paddle steamer Alburkah becomes the first ocean-going iron ship, completing the journey from England to the Niger
HMS Beagle reaches Falmouth, in Cornwall, after a voyage of five years, and Charles Darwin brings with him a valuable collection of specimens
US naval officer Charles Wilkes leads a four-year exploration of the Antarctic and Pacific, proving on the way that Antarctica is a continent
English naval officer John Franklin sets off with two ships, Erebus and Terror, to search for the Northwest Passage
David Livingstone makes a heroic six-month journey from the Zambezi river to the west coast of Africa
David Livingstone, moving down the Zambezi, comes upon the Victoria Falls
Richard Burton and John Hanning Speke set off from Bagamoyo in their search for the source of the Nile
Burton and Speke reach Lake Tanganyika at Ujiji, a place later famous for the meeting between Livingstone and Stanley
Speke reaches Lake Victoria and guesses that it is probably the source of the Nile
Frozen remains and a document are finally found to reveal the fate of the Franklin expedition of 1845 to the NorthWest Passage
Richard Burton, visiting Dahomey, provides reports of the kingdom's celebrated Amazons preparing for war
Speke and Grant find the Ripon Falls, over which the headwater of the Nile flows from Lake Tanganyika
John McDouall Stuart reaches the north coast of Australia at Van Diemen's Gulf seven months after setting off from Adelaide
The bones of Robert O'Hara Burke and William John Wills are brought back to Melbourne after the heroic failure of their attempt to cross Australia
The proprietor of the New York Herald gives Henry Morton Stanley a very concise commission – 'Find Livingstone'
Stanley, finding Livingstone at Ujiji, greets him with four words which become famous – 'Dr Livingstone, I presume'
