In 2012, James Cameron became the first person to complete a solo dive to the Challenger Deep, the deepest known point in Earth’s seabed.

In 2012, Russian scientists successfully drilled and accessed Lake Vostok, a subglacial lake buried beneath 4 km of Antarctic ice, a major milestone in extreme environment exploration.

In 2004, Alexander Klimchouk and team explored the world’s deepest cave, Krubera Cave, reaching a depth of 2,197 meters below the surface.

On July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first humans to walk on the Moon during NASA’s Apollo 11 mission, a milestone in space exploration. Their achievement was watched by millions around the world and marked a triumph of science and engineering.

In 1966, an American expedition led by Nicholas Clinch made the first ascent of Mount Vinson, the highest peak in Antarctica at 4,892 meters.

On April 12, 1961, Yuri Gagarin became the first human to travel into space aboard the Vostok 1 spacecraft, completing one orbit around Earth and launching the space age.

On January 23, 1960, Jacques Piccard and Don Walsh reached the bottom of the Mariana Trench aboard the Trieste, descending nearly 11,000 meters. It remains one of the most profound explorations of the ocean depths ever undertaken.

On May 29, 1953, Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay became the first climbers confirmed to have reached the summit of Mount Everest (8,848 m), the world’s highest peak. Their success marked a historic moment in the history of mountaineering and exploration.

In 1931, Auguste Piccard ascended to the stratosphere in a pressurized gondola, reaching 15,781 meters and laying groundwork for future space exploration.

The Croisière Jaune was a trans-Asian motorized expedition from Beirut to Beijing, launched in 1931. It was led by Georges-Marie Haardt and Louis Audouin-Dubreuil, demonstrating the viability of half-track vehicles across deserts, mountains and vast terrains of Asia.

Organized by Citroën and led by Georges-Marie Haardt and Louis Audouin-Dubreuil, the Croisière Noire crossed Africa from north to south between 1924 and 1925. It was a pioneering motorized expedition combining exploration with ethnographic research.

In 1913, Hudson Stuck and team completed the first verified ascent of Denali, the highest peak in North America.

On December 14, 1911, Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen's expedition became the first to reach the geographic South Pole. This achievement marked a significant milestone in polar exploration and highlighted meticulous planning and the use of skis and dog sleds.

In April 1909, Robert Peary claimed to have reached the North Pole with Matthew Henson and four Inuit companions. Though contested, it was long considered the first successful North Pole expedition.

In 1909, an Australian expedition led by Douglas Mawson reached the South Magnetic Pole, expanding knowledge of Antarctic magnetism and geography.

On December 17, 1903, Orville and Wilbur Wright made the first powered, controlled, and sustained flight of a heavier-than-air aircraft at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.

Between 1903 and 1906, Roald Amundsen successfully navigated the Northwest Passage, proving that a sea route through the Canadian Arctic archipelago was possible.

From 1860 to 1861, Robert O''Hara Burke and William John Wills led the first south-to-north crossing of the Australian continent, although the expedition ended in tragedy.

Between 1851 and 1873, David Livingstone explored southern Africa, including the discovery of Victoria Falls and major stretches of the Zambezi River.

From 1831 to 1836, Charles Darwin sailed aboard HMS Beagle around South America and the Pacific, conducting geological and biological research that later inspired his theory of evolution.

From 1804 to 1806, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark led an expedition to explore the newly acquired Louisiana Territory and chart a route to the Pacific Ocean.

From 1799 to 1804, Alexander von Humboldt undertook a scientific expedition through Central and South America, collecting valuable data in geography, botany, and meteorology.

Led by Jean-François de Galaup, comte de Lapérouse, this French scientific expedition explored and mapped poorly known regions of the Pacific Ocean between 1785 and 1788, including parts of Alaska, California, East Asia, and Australia. The expedition also conducted scientific observations, collected specimens of flora and fauna, and documented interactions with indigenous populations. The strait between Hokkaido (Japan) and Sakhalin (Russia) was named the Strait of La Pérouse in his honor. Despite these contributions, the expedition vanished, becoming one of maritime history's great mysteries.

On November 21, 1783, Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier and François Laurent d’Arlandes made the first untethered hot air balloon flight in Paris, marking the dawn of human flight.

From 1768 to 1779, James Cook conducted three major voyages through the Pacific, mapping New Zealand, Australia''s east coast, and many Polynesian islands.

In 1642, Abel Tasman became the first European to reach Tasmania and New Zealand, greatly expanding European knowledge of the Pacific region.

In the early 17th century, Henry Hudson explored northeastern North America and the Arctic, discovering the vast bay that now bears his name.

In 1541, Francisco de Orellana became the first known European to navigate the entire length of the Amazon River, providing the earliest accounts of the immense rainforest and its peoples.

In 1540, García López de Cárdenas, part of the Spanish Coronado expedition, became the first European to view the Grand Canyon.

Between 1534 and 1542, Jacques Cartier explored the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and claimed parts of what is now Canada for France, laying the foundation for New France.

From 1531 to 1534, Francisco Pizarro led the conquest of the Inca Empire in Peru, significantly expanding Spanish rule in South America.

From 1519 to 1522, Ferdinand Magellan began the first circumnavigation of the Earth, completed by Juan Sebastián Elcano after Magellan's death in the Philippines.

Between 1519 and 1521, Hernán Cortés led the expedition that caused the fall of the Aztec Empire, opening up Mexico to Spanish colonization.

In 1513, Vasco Núñez de Balboa crossed the Isthmus of Panama and became the first European to reach the Pacific Ocean from the New World.

In 1512, António de Abreu led a Portuguese fleet to the Maluku Islands, known as the Spice Islands, marking one of the first European maritime voyages into Southeast Asia.

In 1500, Pedro Álvares Cabral landed on the coast of what is now Brazil, claiming the territory for Portugal and extending European presence in South America.

In 1498, Vasco da Gama led a Portuguese fleet that successfully reached India by sea, opening a direct maritime route between Europe and Asia. This voyage was crucial for global trade, breaking the monopoly of land-based routes and establishing Portugal as a major naval and commercial power.

In 1492, Christopher Columbus reached the Caribbean, believing he had arrived in Asia, marking the beginning of sustained European contact with the Americas.

In 1488, Bartolomeu Dias rounded the southern tip of Africa, proving that the Atlantic connected to the Indian Ocean by sea.

In 1434, Gil Eanes became the first to sail past Cape Bojador, breaking the myth of the 'sea of darkness' and opening Africa''s coast to further Portuguese exploration.

In the early 15th century, Portuguese explorers discovered the Madeira Islands and the Azores under the patronage of Prince Henry the Navigator, expanding Atlantic exploration.

Between 1325 and 1354, Ibn Battuta journeyed across Africa, the Middle East, India, and Asia, writing one of history's most detailed travel accounts.

Around the year 1000, Leif Erikson, a Norse explorer, sailed west from Greenland and reached what he called Vinland—likely Newfoundland—long before Columbus.

In the 4th century BCE, Pytheas of Massalia sailed to the British Isles and possibly to Iceland, reporting the first known descriptions of the Arctic and midnight sun.

In the 5th century BCE, Himilco the Navigator is believed to have explored the Atlantic coast of Europe, contributing to Carthaginian maritime knowledge.

Around 500 BCE, Hanno the Navigator, a Carthaginian explorer, sailed along the northwest coast of Africa in what became one of the earliest documented maritime expeditions beyond the Mediterranean.

A Phoenician expedition, commissioned by Egyptian Pharaoh Necho II, is believed to have circumnavigated Africa around 600 BCE. This remarkable feat of ancient seafaring demonstrated a significant understanding of navigation and geography, opening potential trade routes and expanding the known world.