Compas Timeline

By cahalla20
  • 600 BCE

    Lodestones Discovered

    Greek philospher/scientist Thales discovers lodestones (stones with magnetic properties that always point toward a geographical pole)
  • 200 BCE

    Chinese Lodestone Compass first invented

    First reference to "iron fish" compass in China
  • 350

    Compass reaches India

    Tamil navigational books reference use of Chinese "iron floating fish" technology
  • 1080

    First use of the compass for navigation in China

    First reference to use of compass for sea navigation
  • 1187

    Knowledge of the Compass Spreads to Europe

    First written mention of the compass on the European continent
  • 1230

    Compass is introduced to the Islamic World

    first writing of navigational compass in Arab World
  • 1300

    Compass technology first used for navigation in Europe

    Mediterranean trade accelerates due to introduction of compass
  • 1345

    Ibn Battuta Exploration

    North African Ibn Battuta becomes perhaps most advanced explorer to that date, using the compass to venture as far as Indonesia and Polynesia
  • 1450

    Beginning of the Age of Exploration

    Use of the compass accelerates, and explorers, particularly European, begin to expand the boundaries of the known world using this navigational technology