2500 BC Boat of cedar planks
A boat of cedar planks, some 44 metres long, is buried at Giza

600 BC Phoenicians sail round Africa
Phoenicians sail round the Cape of Good Hope and bring back the surprising news that the sun was seen to the north of them

500 BC Darius builds road system
The great network of roads built by Darius I has at its centre the 2000-mile royal road from Susa to Sardis

490 BC Pheidippides runs to Sparta
Pheidippides, given the task of running from Athens to Sparta to request help at Marathon against the Persians, completes the journey in two days

312 BC Via Appia open to traffic
The first Roman road, the Via Appia, links Rome with Capua

310 BC Greek explorer sails beyond Britain
Pytheas, a Greek explorer, sails up the west coast of Britain and finds beyond it a more northerly land which he calls Thule

138 BC Zhang Qian among the nomads
Zhang Qian, a Chinese diplomat, begins a spell of twelve years as a captive of the nomadic horde, the Xiongnu

126 BC Zhang Qian reaches Bactria
Zhang Qian reaches Bactria and is the first to bring news of western Asia back to China

47 Romans build Fosse Way
Roman legions build the Fosse Way, a raised road with a ditch on each side stretching from Lincoln to Devon

800 Humans reach New Zealand
Seafarers colonize New Zealand, the last great island region in the Pacific to be reached by human beings

981 Eric sails to Greenland
Eric Thorvaldsson, or Eric the Red, sails to Greenland when he is exiled from Iceland

1000 Ericsson finds wine in America
Leif Ericsson claims to have made landfall at three places in north America, one of which he names Vinland - the land of wine

1010 Viking longhouse in north America
Thorfinn Karlsefni leads an expedition to north America, traces of which may survive in a longhouse at L'Anse aux Meadows

1271 Marco Polo leaves home
Marco Polo, aged seventeen, sets off from Venice on his journey to the east

1275 Marco Polo in Xanadu
Marco Polo is presented to Kublai Khan in Xanadu, and according to his own account makes a very good impression

1295 Marco Polo back in Venice
Marco Polo is back in Venice after an absence of 25 years in the east

1298 Marco Polo in prison in Genoa
Marco Polo, in prison in Genoa, is persuaded by a fellow prisoner to narrate his adventures

1300 Portolan charts
Portolan charts, showing the coastlines of the Mediterranean, Black Sea and Atlantic coast, are the start of accurate mapmaking

1325 Ibn Batutah leaves home
Ibn Batutah leaves his home in Morocco to go on pilgrimage to Mecca, and continues travelling for 24 years

1391 Canal links Baltic and North Sea
Construction begins on a canal from Lübeck south to the Elbe, linking the Baltic and the North Sea

1415 Prince Henry commissions exploration
A Portuguese prince, Henry the Navigator, becomes fascinated by exploration down the coast of Africa and commissions successive voyages

1425 Zheng He sails far afield
Zheng He, a Muslim eunuch, makes voyages of trade and exploration with a fleet of Chinese junks

1450 Caravels sail the seas
The caravel, a sailing ship developed in the Mediterranean and used down the west coast of Africa, is adapted by the Portuguese for Atlantic use

1488 Dias rounds Cape for Portugal
Bartolomeu Dias, sailing for the king of Portugal, becomes the first European navigator to round the Cape of Good Hope

1492 Columbus sails west
Christopher Columbus, together with the brothers Martin and Vicente Pinzón, sails west from Palos in Spain

1492 Columbus lands in the Bahamas
After sailing for five weeks from the Canaries, Columbus and the Pinzón brothers step ashore in the Bahamas

1492 Columbus reaches Cuba
Columbus and his fellow explorers make landfall on the largest of the Caribbean islands, Cuba

1493 Columbus back in Spain
Columbus returns to Spain, landing at Palos with news of his great discoveries

1497 Cabot explores for England
Henry VII commissions the Italian navigator John Cabot to cross the Atlantic in search of new territories for England

1497 Cabot probably reaches Newfoundland
John Cabot, searching for a trade route to China, probably reaches Newfoundland

1498 Vasco da Gama reaches India
Vasco da Gama reaches the southern coast of India, at Calicut, after sailing across the Indian Ocean from east Africa

1500 Cabral reaches Brazil
Portuguese explorer Pedro Cabral, with a fleet of thirteen ships, makes landfall in Brazil

1500 Extensive network of Inca roads
The Inca empire has about 25,000 miles of well-serviced roads, designed for caravans of llamas

1501 Vespucci sails west and south
Italian navigator Amerigo Vespucci sets sail from Lisbon to explore to the south of the New World

1507 Name proposed for America
The editor of a pamphlet proposes that the recently found continent should be named America after the explorer Amerigo Vespucci

1513 Balboa sees Pacific
Vasco Núñez de Balboa reaches the Pacific coast and claims the ocean for the king of Spain

1519 Magellan sets off round world
Ferdinand Magellan and a small fleet depart from Seville, attempting to sail round the world

1521 Magellan first to cross Pacific
Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan crosses the Pacific in ninety-nine days and reaches Guam

1521 Magellan killed in Philippines
Ferdinand Magellan is killed in the Philippines, in a skirmish with natives

1522 One ship back from world tour
One surviving ship of Magellan's fleet, the Victoria, returns to Sanlucar, in Spain, with Sebastian Cano in command

1534 Cartier discovers St Lawrence
French explorer Jacques Cartier charts the Gulf of St Lawrence and, in 1525, explores up the river as far as Montreal

1535 Cartier names Montreal
Cartier, welcomed by the Huron Indians, gives their island in the St Lawrence river the name of Montreal

1540 Coronado explores north from Mexico
Francisco Vasquez de Coronado penetrates far north and west of Texas in an expedition searching for gold

1568 Quest is on for southern land
Discovery of the Solomon Islands by a Spanish ship prompts interest in a possible Terra Australis Incognita ('unknown southern land')

1575 Day of the galleon
English sailor and slave-trader John Hawkins turns the top-heavy carrack into the more seaworthy galleon

1577 Drake heads west from Plymouth
Francis Drake sails from Plymouth, heading west for the Pacific and the East Indies

1580 Drake home from trip round world
Francis Drake returns to England after his three-year voyage round the world and is knighted by Queen Elizabeth on board his Golden Hind

1594 Barents explores north of Russia
Willem Barents sets off on the first of his three expeditions to find a passage to the east through the waters north of Russia

1609 Hudson up his river
Henry Hudson reaches the inlet of New York Bay and explores the river now known by his name

1611 Hudson adrift in his bay
Henry Hudson, after wintering in Hudson Bay, is set adrift in an open boat by his mutinous crew

1616 John Smith describes New England
John Smith publishes A Description of New England, an account of his exploration of the region in 1614

1642 Tasman in Tasmania
Abel Tasman makes landfall in the Macquarie Harbour area in the island now known after him, Tasmania

1642 Maoris repel Dutch explorer
The Dutch explorer Abel Tasman attempts to land in Golden Bay, New Zealand, resulting in a clash with the Maoris

1643 Tasman reaches Tonga and Fiji
Abel Tasman reaches yet more islands previously unknown to Europeans – Tonga and Fiji

1660 Berlin carriage all the rage
The berlin, developed in Berlin, becomes the most successful carriage of the seventeenth century

1700 East Indiamen sail the seas
Holland and England are now producing the magnificent ocean-going merchant vessels known as East Indiamen

1720 Postchaise for comfort
The postchaise, introduced in France, provides the first chance of reasonably comfortable travel by land

1720 Grand Tourists in Italy
Young noblemen, particularly from Britain, visit Italy on the Grand Tour

1722 Dutch reach Easter Island
Easter Island is reached by the Dutch, beginning a spate of European discovery in the islands of the Pacific

1728 Bering in Bering Strait
The Danish explorer Vitus Bering sails into Arctic seas through the strait between Asia and America known now by his name

1755 Conestoga wagon
The first Conestoga wagons are acquired by George Washington for an expedition through the Alleghenies

1768 Captain Cook sails for Pacific
Captain James Cook sails from Plymouth, in England, heading for Tahiti to observe the transit of Venus

1769 Cook charts coast of New Zealand
Captain Cook reaches New Zealand and sets off to chart its entire coastline

1772 Cook's second voyage
Captain Cook sets off, in HMS Resolution, on his second voyage to the southern hemisphere

1775 Trekboers move north
Dutch nomads, pressing far north from Cape Town, become known as the Trekboers

1779 Cook killed in Hawaii
British explorer Captain James Cook is killed in a skirmish with natives in Hawaii over a stolen boat

1784 Mail coach leaves Bristol
The first mail coach leaves Bristol for London, introducing a new era of faster transport

1789 Canoeist reaches Arctic Ocean
Alexander Mackenzie explores by canoe from central Canada through the Great Slave Lake to the Arctic Ocean

1791 Vancouver sails to north Pacific
Naval officer George Vancouver sails from Britain on the voyage which will bring him to the northwest coast of America

1792 Mackenzie reaches Canadian Pacific
Alexander Mackenzie reaches the Pacific coast of Canada, becoming the first known person to cross the north American continent

1795 Mungo Park reaches Niger river
Mungo Park sets off on his first expedition to explore the Niger on behalf of the African Association

1798 Bass finds his strait
British explorer George Bass sails round Tasmania in an open whaleboat, discovering the strait which now bears his name

1802 Britain's first working steamboat
A steam tug designed by William Symington, the Charlotte Dundas, goes into service on the Forth and Clyde canal

1803 Trevithick demonstrates steam carriage in London
Cornish engineer Richard Trevithick drives a steam carriage in London, from Holborn to Paddington and back

1804 Trevithick runs locomotive on rails
Richard Trevithick runs the first locomotive on rails, pulling heavy weights a distance of 9 miiles (15 km) near Merthyr Tydfil in Wales

1804 Lewis and Clark expedition departs
Meriwether Lewis and William Clark set off from St Louis to explore up the Missouri river and west to the coast

1805 Lewis and Clark reach Pacific
Lewis and Clark make their way through the Rockies and reach the Pacific

1806 Lewis and Clark safely back
Lewis and Clark get back to St Louis with a wealth of information about the unopened west of the continent

1807 Clermont on Hudson river
US engineer Robert Fulton launches a steamboat, the Clermont, on New York's Hudson river

1811 National Road from Cumberland
Work begins at Cumberland in Maryland on the construction of America's National Road

1813 Puffing Billy
William Hedley's Puffing Billy, the first steam locomotive running on smooth rails, goes to work at Wylam colliery

1815 First macadamized road
Scottish engineer John McAdam builds the first macadamized road, in the Bristol region of southwest England

1825 Stockport and Darlington railway
Active (later called Locomotion) is the engine on the first passenger railway, between Stockton and Darlington

1825 Erie Canal completed
Work begins on the 363-mile Erie Canal that will link the Hudson River to Lake Erie

1829 Rocket wins
The locomotive Rocket, built by George and Robert Stephenson, defeats two rivals in the Rainhill trials, near Liverpool

1830 Lander brothers explore Niger
Richard Lander and his brother John explore the lower reaches of the Niger, proving that the great river is navigable

1830 Liverpool and Manchester Railway
George Stephenson's railway between Liverpool and Manchester opens, with passengers pulled by eight locomotives based on Rocket

1831 Voyage of the Beagle
HMS Beagle sails from Plymouth to survey the coasts of the southern hemisphere, with Charles Darwin as the expedition's naturalist

1832 Göta canal completed
The Göta canal is completed, enabling ships to cross Scandinavia from the North Sea to the Baltic

1832 Iron ship steams to Africa
The paddle steamer Alburkah becomes the first ocean-going iron ship, completing the journey from England to the Niger

1833 Rail travel in USA
The first long-distance US railway, in South Carolina, carries its first passengers

1836 Darwin brings home specimens
HMS Beagle reaches Falmouth, in Cornwall, after a voyage of five years, and Charles Darwin brings with him a valuable collection of specimens

1837 London to Birmingham railway
The first trains run between London and Birmingham on the railway designed by Robert Stephenson

1838 Sirius steams across Atlantic
An Irish packet steamer, the Sirius, becomes the first steamship to cross the Atlantic, completing the journey to New York in 19 days

1838 Wilkes Expedition
US naval officer Charles Wilkes leads a four-year exploration of the Antarctic and Pacific, proving on the way that Antarctica is a continent

1841 Thomas Cook invents package tour
With a teetotallers' rail trip for 570 people, Thomas Cook introduces the notion of the package tour

1843 Brunel's Great Britain
Isambard Kingdom Brunel launches the Great Britain, the first iron steamship designed for the transatlantic passenger trade

1845 Franklin searches for northwest passage
English naval officer John Franklin sets off with two ships, Erebus and Terror, to search for the Northwest Passage

1850 50,000 on Oregon Trail
As many as 50,000 US pioneers travel west this year on the Oregon Trail

1852 Transcontinental route in Nicaragua
US entrepreneur Cornelius Vanderbilt conveys passengers across the American continent through Nicaragua by steamship and horse and carriage

1853 Livingstone slogs west from Zambezi
David Livingstone makes a heroic six-month journey from the Zambezi river to the west coast of Africa

1855 Panama railway crosses continent
The Panama Railroad company completes a line between the Atlantic and the Pacific, providing America's first transcontinental link

1855 Livingstone reaches Victoria Falls
David Livingstone, moving down the Zambezi, comes upon the Victoria Falls

1857 Burton and Speke search for source of Nile
Richard Burton and John Hanning Speke set off from Bagamoyo in their search for the source of the Nile

1858 Burton and Speke reach Lake Tanganyika
Burton and Speke reach Lake Tanganyika at Ujiji, a place later famous for the meeting between Livingstone and Stanley

1858 The Great Eastern, Brunel's swansong
Brunel dies just before the maiden voyage of his gigantic final project, the luxury liner The Great Eastern

1858 Speke reaches Lake Victoria
Speke reaches Lake Victoria and guesses that it is probably the source of the Nile

1859 Franklin mystery solved
Frozen remains and a document are finally found to reveal the fate of the Franklin expedition of 1845 to the NorthWest Passage

1860 Pony Express
Mail is carried by horse relay from Missouri to California, travelling 2000 miles in ten days in the service known as the Pony Express

1862 Amazons go to war in Dahomey
Richard Burton, visiting Dahomey, provides reports of the kingdom's celebrated Amazons preparing for war

1862 Speke and Grant reach Ripon Falls
Speke and Grant find the Ripon Falls, over which the headwater of the Nile flows from Lake Tanganyika

1862 Stuart crosses Australia
John McDouall Stuart reaches the north coast of Australia at Van Diemen's Gulf seven months after setting off from Adelaide

1862 Burke and Wills return in caskets
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

1863 World's first underground railway
The Metropolitan Railway, the world's first to go underground, opens in London using steam trains between Paddington and Farringdon Street

1869 Transcontinental railway completed in USA
The Union Pacific and the Central Pacific railroads meet at Promontory Summit in Utah, completing the first transcontinental line

1869 Stanley to find Livingstone
The proprietor of the New York Herald gives Henry Morton Stanley a very concise commission – 'Find Livingstone'

1869 Cutty Sark is launched
The most famous of the three-masted tea-clippers, the Cutty Sark is launched at Dumbarton for service to and from China

1871 'Dr Livingstone, I presume'
Stanley, finding Livingstone at Ujiji, greets him with four words which become famous – 'Dr Livingstone, I presume'

1874 Stanley to complete Livingstone's travels
Stanley sets off from Bagamoyo, intending to resume the exploration of central Africa where Livingstone left off

1876 Stanley surpasses Livingstone
Stanley passes Nyangwe on the Lualaba, the furthest point down the Congo river system reached by Livingstone

1877 Stanley reaches Atlantic coast
Stanley completes his exploration of the Congo, reaching the Atlantic coast at Boma after a three-year journey

1885 Benz builds first petrol-driven car
German engineer Karl Friedrich Benz builds the Tri-Star, a three-wheeled vehicle with an internal combustion that is considered the first commercial automobile

1886 Daimler builds 4-wheel car
German engineer Gottlied Wilhelm Daimler builds the first successful 4-wheel vehicle with an internal combustion engine

1890 Railway bridge across Forth
A vast cantilever bridge, spanning a mile of water, carries the railway across the Firth of Forth in Scotland

1890 Electric underground railway
The world's first electric underground railway passes under the Thames, linking the City of London and Stockwell

1891 Trans-Siberian railway
Work begins in the Urals and at Vladivostock, laying track which will eventually join up as the Trans-Siberian railway

1891 Lilienthal makes first guided flight in glider
German aviation pioneer Otto Lilienthal achieves the first of many guided flights in a glider, from a hill near Potsdam

1893 Nansen leads attempt to reach North Pole
Norwegian explorer Fridtjof Nansen sails into the Arctic in the purpose-built Fram, beginning a three-year expedition to reach the North Pole

1895 Slocum sets off on lone voyage
Joshua Slocum sails from Boston in his sloop Spray for his attempt at a solo circumnavigation of the world

1896 Henry Ford's Quadricycle
US engineer Henry Ford test-drives his first four-wheel internal-combustion vehicle, the Quadricycle, built in a coal shed behind his home

1896 Lilienthal dies in air crash
Otto Lilienthal dies when a wing fractures on his glider and he crashes from a height of 17 metres

1897 Turbinia breaks speed record
Turbinia, powered by the newly invented Parsons steam turbine, breaks the speed record when Queen Victoria reviews her fleet

1898 First solo navigation round world
Joshua Slocum reaches Newport, Rhode Island, after sailing 46,000 miles to achieve the first solo voyage round the world

1900 Sailing Alone Around the World
Joshua Slocum publishes Sailing Alone Around the World, an account of his famous 1895-8 circumnavigation

1901 Scott sails for the Antarctic
Robert Falcon Scott sets off in the Discovery on his first expedition to the Antarctic

1902 Steam car sets new record
French automobile pioneer Leon Serpollet sets a new land speed record, driving a steam car at 75 mph along the Promenade des Anglais in Nice

1902 Internal-combustion car sets new record
William K. Vanderbilt drives the first internal-combustion car to win the land speed record, at 76 mph at Ablis in France

1903 Harley-Davidson motorcycle
William Harley and three Davidson brothers begin the commercial production in Milwaukee of motorcycles, but complete only three by the end of the year

1903 Britain's first Motor Show
Britain's first national motor show is organized at the Crystal Palace, moving two years later to Olympia

1905 AA in Britain
Britain's Automobile Association is founded, with patrol-men on bicycles to assist drivers

1905 First diesel-powered vessel
The first boat to be powered by a combustion engine, the 125-ton vessel Venoga, is launched on Lake Geneva

1906 Lusitania launched
The Cunard company launches the Lusitania on the Clyde as a sister ship to the Mauretania

1906 Amundsen navigates Northwest Passage
Roald Amundsen and his crew are the first to achieve the Northwest Passage, in a journey lasting three years in a 70-ft fishing boat

1907 Lusitania sets Atlantic record
The British liner Lusitania sets a new record for the Atlantic crossing, on the first of four such occasions

1908 South magnetic pole located
Ernest Shackleton, leading an expedition to the Antarctic, locates the south magnetic pole

1908 Model T Ford
The first Model T Ford rolls off the production line at the Piquette Avenue Plant in Detroit

1909 Bernier unveils a plaque in the Arctic Archipelago
Sea captain Joseph-Elzéar Bernier unveils a plaque in the Arctic Archipelago, declaring that all the islands belong to Canada

1909 Blériot crosses the Channel
Louis Blériot is the first to fly across the English Channel, winning the £1000 prize offered by the Daily Mail

1909 Slocum lost at sea
Joshua Slocum, the most famous sailor of the day, vanishes on another lone voyage

1910 Rolls sets new aviation record
Charles Stewart Rolls becomes the first man to fly non-stop across the English Channel and back

1910 Scott sails again for the Antarctic
Robert Falcon Scott sails south in the Terra Nova on his second voyage towards the South Pole

1910 Zeppelin provides commercial air service
Ferdinand Zeppelin's dirigible Deutschland provides the first commercial air service for passengers

1911 Machu Picchu found
The lost Inca city of Machu Picchu is reached by US archaeologist Hiram Bingham

1911 Amundsen reaches South Pole
Roald Amundsen and his Norwegian team become the first people to stand at the South Pole

1912 Scott reaches South Pole too late
Robert Falcon Scott and his companions reach the South Pole a month after Amundsen - and die on the return journey

1912 First flying boat
US aeroplane designer Glenn Curtis demonstrates the potential of the first successful flying boat, The Flying Fish

1912 Titanic hits iceberg
The White Star liner Titanic sinks on her maiden voyage from Southampton to New York, drowning 1513 passengers and crew

1912 Selandia goes to sea on diesel
The first sea-going diesel-powered ship, the Selandia, is constructed and launched in Denmark

1913 The first Morris car
The Morris company launches the Morris Oxford, later known as the Bullnose Morris from the shape of its radiator

1913 Canadian Arctic Expedition
The Canadian Arctic Expedition, led by Vilhjalmur Stefansson, sets off to the north

1913 Subway in Buenos Aires
An underground railway opens in Buenos Aires, the first subway in Latin America

1914 Empress of Ireland sinks
More than 1000 die when the liner Empress of Ireland sinks after a collision in the St Lawrence river

1914 Panama Canal opens
The Panama Canal opens to shipping on a neutral basis just two weeks after the start of World War I

1915 London's new suburbs become Metro-land
An employee of the Metropolitan Railway coins the term Metro-land when promoting the company's services in London's suburbs

1916 Boeing sets up in business
William Boeing flies an aircraft built by himself, and a month later sets up in Seattle his own Aero Product company

1916 Dramatic Shackleton rescue
After an 800-mile journey in an open boat Ernest Shackleton returns to rescue his stranded colleagues in the South Shetlands

1916 Federal-Aid Highway Act
The Federal-Aid Highway Act sets up the first national road system in the US

1919 Non-stop trans-Atlantic flight
John Alcock and Arthur Whitten Brown fly from St John's in Newfoundland to Clifden in Ireland

1919 Canadian National Railways
Canadian National Railways is formed from two of the country's largest rail systems

1921 R-38 burns in mid-air
The British airship R-38 bursts into flames on its fourth flight and crashes into the Humber

1922 Austin Seven
British manufacturer Herbert Austin launches Britain's first car for the popular market, the Austin Seven or 'Baby Austin'

1927 First flight across Atlantic
US aviator Charles Lindbergh, in his single-engine plane Spirit of St Louis, flies solo across the Atlantic from New York to Paris

1928 Flying Doctors
An Aerial Medical Service is launched in Queensland, Australia, subsequently becoming the Flying Doctor Service

1929 Byrd over South Pole
US explorer Richard E. Byrd and two companions make the first flight over the South Pole, in a Ford Tri-Motor

1930 Johnson flies solo to Australia
English pioneer aviator Amy Johnson makes a 19-day solo flight in a Gipsy Moth from Croydon (part of London) to Darwin, Australia

1930 R101 disaster
The airship R101, designed by a UK Air Ministry team, explodes on its maiden vogage, killing all but four of those on board

1932 Earhart flies across Atlantic
US aviator Amelia Earhart lands in Ireland 15 hours after leaving Newfoundland, to become the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic

1933 Geometric map of London's underground
Draughtsman Harry Beck, inspired by electrical circuits, produces a classic map of London's underground

1935 Howard Hughes flies fastest
US industrialist Howard Hughes sets a new speed record of 352 mph, flying a plane designed by himself

1937 Hindenburg disaster
The German airship Hindenburg bursts into flames over New Jersey, bringing to an end the era of rigid airships

1937 Earhart lost in Pacific
Amelia Earhart and her navigator vanish somewhere over the Pacific four weeks into their attempt to fly round the world

1939 Campbell sets new speed record on water
British racing driver Malcolm Campbell sets a new water speed record of 141 mph

1947 Kon-Tiki
Thor Heyerdahl sets sail across the Pacific from Peru in a balsa wood boat, the Kon-Tiki

1948 Morris Minor
The Morris Minor is launched, designed by Alec Issigonis, and becomes one of Britain's best-selling cars

1948 Australia's Holden
Prime minister Ben Chifley sees Australia's first mass-produced car, the Holden, roll off the production line

1949 The first jet airliner
The world's first commercial jet airliner, the Comet, designed by de Havilland, goes into service with BOAC (British Overseas Airways Corporation)

1950 St Roch completes north American circuit
The Canadian schooner St Roch becomes the first ship to travel through the Panama Canal and the Northwest Passage, thus circumnavigating North America

1953 Everest conquered
New Zealander Edmund Hillary and the Sherpa Tenzing Norgay stand together on the top of Everest

1958 Fuchs crosses Antarctica
A Commonwealth team, led by Vivian Fuchs, completes the first overland crossing of Antarctica

1959 Mini a sensation in Britain
The Mini is launched, designed by Alec Issigonis, and becomes the best-selling British car of all time

1962 Trans-Canada Highway
The Trans-Canada Highway is completed, stretching some 5000 miles across the continent

1969 Concorde goes supersonic
The Anglo-French airliner Concorde makes its first supersonic test flight

1999 Fire in Mont Blanc tunnel
A fire in the Mont Blanc road tunnel kills 39 people and closes the tunnel for three years

2000 Concorde crashes
A Concorde supersonic airliner crashes after take-off from Paris, killing all 109 on board

2003 Concorde's farewell
The last three Concorde airliners to carry fare-paying passengers land within a space of five minutes at Heathrow

2005 A380 takes to the air
The superjumbo Airbus A380 makes its first test flight from Toulouse

2014 March 8 Malasia Airlines Flight 370 disappears
Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, a Boeing 777 en route to Kuala Lumpur with 239 people on board, loses contact with the ground for unknown reasons but flies on for five hours and vanishes, causing a massive international search.

2016 July 26 Solar-powered world flight
Swiss Solar Impulse 2 is the first solar-powered aircraft to circumnavigate the Earth

2019 September 23 Travel firm Thomas Cook bankrupt
One of the largest and oldest travel firms, Thomas Cook, goes bankrupt as last-minute rescue negotiations fail, stranding 600,000 tourists worldwide