Timeline: expeditions and circumnavigation

1519-1522

First circumnavigation, a Spanish-led expedition by Ferdinand Magellan and Juan Sebastian Elcano departed from Seville.

1708-1711

William Dampier, first person to circumnavigate the world three times (1679–1691, 1703–1707 and 1708–1711).

1768-1711

James Cook in HMS Endeavour; the first circumnavigation to lose no personnel to scurvy.

1895-1898

Joshua Slocum; first single-handed circumnavigation.

1910-1923

Dumitru Dan was the first person to walk around the world (he kept walking even on the boats' decks).

1924

United States Army Air Service, first aerial circumnavigation, 175 days, covering 44,360km.

1933

Wiley Post repeated his 1931 circumnavigation by aeroplane, but this time solo, using an autopilot and radio direction finder. He made the first solo aerial circumnavigation in a time one day faster than his previous record of 7 days, 19 hours, 49 minutes, in which he covered 25,110km.

1949

The United States Air Force B-50 Superfortress Lucky Lady II made the first non-stop aerial circumnavigation in 94 hours and 1 minute. Four in-air refuelings were required for the flight, which covered 37,743km.

1960

USS Triton; first underwater circumnavigation.

1976-1978

Krystyna Chojnowska-Liskiewicz became the first woman to perform a single-handed circumnavigation

1986

Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager, Voyager, first non-refuelled circumnavigation in an aeroplane, 9 days, 3 minutes and 44 seconds.

1997-2003

Robert Garside is credited by Guinness World Records as the first person to run around the world, taking 2,062 days to cover 48,000km across 29 countries and 6 continents.

1999

Bertrand Piccard and Brian Jones: first non-stop balloon circumnavigation in Breitling Orbiter 3, 19 days, 1 hour and 49 minutes, covering 42,810km.

2007

Jason Lewis completed the first true human-powered circumnavigation of the globe, covering 74,843km in both the southern and northern hemispheres and reaching two antipodal points, gaining accreditation from Guinness World Records and Adventurestats by Explorersweb.